This report evaluates the keeping of exotic pets in the classroom and mobile zoo visits to schools. Our report summarizes the landscape of both practices in the U.S. and the corresponding lack of regulation; outlines the public health and safety issues; highlights the animal conservation and welfare concerns; and dismantles the alleged educational "benefits." We argue that banning classroom pets in school districts and prohibiting mobile zoos from school property remain the most effective and logical solutions to protect future generations of students and help keep wild animals in the only environment in which they truly belong: the wild.
Addressing this topic has become more urgent since 2020, when COVID-19 became a worldwide pandemic that impacted the lives of millions. Since 1919, there have been at least 19 major global pandemics associated with wildlife, killing hundreds of millions of people and countless animals globally. Because wild animals remain the main vectors of many diseases with the potential
