Tensions and Stitches: An Ethnographic Approach to Wild Pets in Uruguay

Exotic pets embody various tensions, ambiguities, and questions of special relevance in the Anthropocene, characterized by unprecedented domestication and defaunation. In this article, we present a series of anthropological reflections on some of these dilemmas, based on ethnographic research on wild pets in Uruguay. We explore how these pets are produced through relationships between humans, animals, breeding facilities, veterinary care, and public wildlife management. At the same time, we investigate the ways in which pet-keeping updates certain human-animal relationships in the contexts studied. To do so, we analyze in an interconnected manner the dilemmas surrounding captivity, breeding and domestication processes, and care practices for animal welfare as conditions for producing tame, adapted, and healthy pets. Our interpretations are cross-cut by the relationship between pet-keeping, animal trafficking, and fetishization.