Here’s Why Keeping a Slow Loris as a Pet is Cruel, Not Cute (VIDEO)

When we see videos of wild animals doing adorable things, we all have the same initial reaction, “OMG, so cute!” But while these animal videos might seem cute on the surface, when you do some research into where the animals are living and why they are performing the behaviors – that we consider “cute” – these sweet videos start to lose their innocence.

Actor Peter Egan uses the example of the Slow Loris being tickled to prove this point. Without context, you might think that a little Slow Loris with its arms up being tickled appears to be a funny, adorable video. But when you know what has to happen to these animals in order for them to be “domesticated,” and that holding their arms up means they are terrified, suddenly this video is nothing but cruel.

To make matters worse, these “cute” videos of Slow Lorises also inspire people to own them as pets, further compounding the suffering of this small species. We can all appreciate the beauty of wild animals, like the Slow Loris, but the fact remains that they belong in the wild, not in captivity as pets or for use in entertainment.

Join Peter Egan and International Animal Rescue in raising awareness for the Slow Loris and sign the “Tickling is Torture Pledge.” It is up to us to speak for these animals because they cannot do so for themselves.