When it comes to the sale of exotic animals, opinions abound.

Some people will tell you keeping exotic animals in captivity is just plain wrong. Others will say people have the right to choose whichever pets they please.

Debbie Carrie, who once had as many as 90 exotic animals on ground she used to own near Tuscola, believes they have a purpose. Her animals included a zebra, a camel and several coatimundis, a raccoon relative from South America.

"They actually ended up teaching me to give back to the world in more ways than one," Carrie said. She was so moved by the animals' ability that she opened Carrie Pouch, her exotic animal farm, to the public so the animals could teach others. She now lives in Kampville, along the Mississippi River, where she keeps some exotic animals and would like to create another animal sanctuary.

Carrie cared for each of her animals with the help of veterinarians at the University of Illinois' Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Dr. Julie Whittington, a professor and member of the UI zoological medicine service, treats exotic animals and wildlife and works with some zoos. Whittington sees unhealthy exotic animals, with problems caused by breeding or because their owners are unable or don't know about how to care for them. This is especially true with young animals or in those new to their owners, she said. Some of the afflictions are caused by improper nutrition, or by an improper light source or a vitamin or mineral deficiency.

About half the animals that come in for emergency care are there for these reasons, Whittington said. And while many owners of pets sold in pet stores, like parrots or guinea pigs, are equipped to care for their animals, that's not always true for people who own what she calls exotic wildlife.

Whittington has seen some exotic animal and pet owners, like Carrie, take good care of them. But others "are ill-prepared to provide them with what they need," she said. They are still wild, with instincts that can't be quelled by years growing up in captivity.

Animal sales and auctions where people get rid of sickly animals don't help, either, Whittington said. These sales happen around the country, and Whittington said people in Indiana and Texas are known for producing and selling a large number of exotic animals.

Carrie's seen animals in poor health at sales, too.

"Most of the times at these exotic sales, these are animals that have something that's not workable, at least not in that person's situation," Carrie said.

Organizations like the Humane Society of the United States and Born Free USA don't believe exotic animals should be brokered or held in captivity. April Truitt, the co-founder and executive director of the Primate Rescue Center in Nicholasville, Ky., every day cares for 42 monkeys and 11 chimpanzees. Many of them began their lives as "beloved pets," Truitt said, but became uncontrollable after reaching sexual maturity.

"They are wild," she said. "They can't be kept in diapers and cribs and clothes."

Truitt said many of their owners didn't mean harm but didn't do enough research before committing to an exotic pet.

"In most cases, they're unwitting animal lovers that just want to have something different than their neighbor," she said.

She believes brokers and the Internet contribute to that problem, because they allow those who aren't educated to easily buy an animal. And it prevents the animal's owner from going back to the breeder about the problem.

Ken Walker, the exotic animal broker in Paxton, said he knows the industry has both good and bad brokers.

"There are definitely more bad than good," Walker said, which is why he said he's careful to preserve his reputation. He also encourages potential customers to check him out with the Better Business Bureau and will provide references, as well.

And though Walker is in the exotic animal business, he said he's not sure what kind of people buy exotic animals as pets – 90 percent of his business is from institutions and outreaches.

Carrie said people buy exotic animals because they want something unique and to stand out.

"People walking around with monkeys in dresses, a coatimundi on a shoulder, or iguanas on leashes, to me, that's a 'Hey, look at me. Look at what I have,'" Carrie said. But she knows what her own intentions are with the animals – to care for them, to teach other people about them and use them to teach other people about nature and respect.

"There must be a respect wherever they're kept," Carrie said. "There's a line you must keep and a line that you don't cross over."