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We all love animals, who doesn’t? They are loyal, affectionate, and they never leave our side. We need animals to get through some of our hardest days in life, which is why we take them as pets. Having a pet is wonderful; it is like having an additional family member who will stand by you no matter what.
Pets are expensive generally, regardless of what kind of pet we are talking about. Even the maintenance of a dog or a cat can be incredibly expensive. But that does not stop us from loving our pets with all our hearts and providing for them in every way possible. Having said that, some pets are expensive to acquire, and obviously, these pets are more exotic in nature. Although we must not really differentiate between animals as costly or cheap, some pets will cost us a fortune. Here is a list of the five most expensive pets around the world.
1. Thoroughbred Racehorses
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Green Monkey was an American thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the costliest pets on-demand and held a world record for the highest ever price paid for a racehorse in an auction. What makes him so damn special? Apart from the fact that he could run a mile in under 9.8 seconds and his impeccable racing career, he was also fathered by another thoroughbred named Forestry.
In an auction held in the year 2006, Green Moneky (as a two-year-old-colt) was sold for a whopping $16 million. The Green Monkey officially retired on February 12, 2018, after failing to break his maiden in three career starts. He was euthanized in the month of May the same year due to laminitis.
2. Tibetian Mastiffs
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The Tibetian Mastiff is a Chinese dog that belongs to the Mastiff family. Although these dogs look fluffy, friendly, and harmless, the nature of these dogs states otherwise. Tibetian Mastiffs were used as guard dogs in earlier times, be it for guarding houses against burglars or cattle from sheep, this breed of dogs could be trusted with the job.
Tibetian Mastiffs are extremely disciplined dogs and the years of internalized conditioning makes them not so friendly. They are nocturnal alert guards, which keeps them barking at every single movement all through the night. This breed of dogs is known to sleep in the day and stay awake all night, which makes them more alert. The ferocious nature of these dogs means it’s not an advisable apartment dog. In 2011, an 11-month-old thoroughbred Tibetan Mastiff was bought up a multimillionaire for a $1.5 million figure.
3. Golden Python
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The first question you might ask is who would want a snake for a pet? Well, guess again. The Lavender Albino Python, most commonly referred to as the Golden python is a rare breed of snake, and is sought after as a collector’s item. This python has a rare colour mutation due to its recessive genes and has intense red eyes that would put the bravest people to shame.
They are native to Africa. Golden pythons mostly dine on rodents and need to eat only twice or thrice a week. Although, they do like to drink water from a clean bowl and take a dip to refresh in the same bowl once in a while. These pythons are triple the size of humans in length, but fear not, they can easily be tamed. The trick is to be extremely gentle with it so that the pythons are comfortable with you and consider you a friend. This breed of pythons was once considered the most expensive pet in the world.
4. Racing Pigeons
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You heard that right, pigeons! Pigeons can be costly too. China has always had a huge market for racing pigeons. The expensive market for pigeon racing means that competing people have to have the fastest pigeons. In the 2013 auction, ten of the birds were bought by Chinese and Taiwanese collectors for heavy prices. A pigeon named Bolt (you guessed it right, it was named after Usain Bolt, the fastest man alive), for its speed, was sold for $400k. The bird was purchased by a Chinese bird enthusiast named Gao Fuxin.
Leo Heremans, a Belgian breeder, was forced to sell all his birds because he developed a virus due to the birds’ spending too much time. When he sold all his stock of 530 pigeons in 2013, buyers from different countries purchased all his birds. Heremans earned around $6 million in that trade. Still think pigeons are not costly pets?
5. Camels
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Camels are much more than just a cause for tourist attraction in the Arab countries. In fact, Camel racing is such an important part of the Arab culture that everyone who wants to be something must have a camel to flaunt their wealth. Although camels cannot be spotted in the UAE as much as before, there are still dozens of camel farms in cities’ outskirts.
Camels have been an integral part of the culture of Arabs, the bonding between the beast and man was one based on survival. The Arabs believed that they had an unspoken deal with camels. The camels will help them in transport in the desert’s harsh conditions, and in return, they would feed the animals and keep it safe. Rulers of the UAE were so worried about cultural deterioration that they made camel racing the most important sport in the country. Camels are hard to train, and heavy sums have to be spent on training camels for a race. The animals also have special diets that are stringently followed to ensure that they are fit and at the prime of their health. Another cause for concern is that camels are highly sociable creatures and often require partners, so you won’t be spending on just one animal, but two—a single camel costs around the ballpark figure of $55000.
