Anyone who travels knows that exotic animals are seen around many tourism destinations. For a dollar, you can take a picture with an alpaca, a monkey, an unusual bird, a lizard - whatever they're offering. For many years, I didn't give much thought to this at all, but the more I learned about it, the easier it was to decide to never give my money to the people offering these services.

Most animals used in these situations were captured from the wild and trained cruelly to pose for the photo you want. These animals deserve to stay in the wild and roam free, not work all day, often in an environment that is unsafe for them and very unlike their usual habitat.

The way these people get these animals to stay calm and pose for photographs is usually through cruel measures, such as denying the animal of food or beating them until they obey. Birds that are used on resorts for exotic photos usually have their wings clipped or tied so they cannot fly away, which is uncomfortable for the animals themselves.

If you look closely at the animals you are so excited to take a picture with, you will see how miserable they truly are. I have seen many examples of this on resorts throughout my lifetime, but the most recent example of animal cruelty I have seen in my life was when I visited Peru. All over, people were advertising photos with Alpacas. Here is one that was at a street market near a popular church.

It is easy to see how wrong this situation is. This animal is completely alone - it has no other friends or family for companionship. Dolphins are the only animal that can commit suicide (that we know of,) and many dolphins in captivity commit suicide because of loneliness or boredom. This alpaca is in a similar situation - it is dressed up, which is unnatural for animals.

It is tied to an extremely short rope, which is proven to stress out animals and cause them to pace. Lastly, they are in a city, rather than set free to roam wild open spaces.

In the past, I was not aware of how damaging this kind of tourism was for animals, and I completely admit I have paid for these pictures in the past. But being aware isn't about being perfect, it's about educating yourself and changing your actions for the future.

I also know that as someone who is not a vegetarian/vegan, this article sounds a bit hypocritical. But in my opinion, just because someone is not doing everything to help doesn't mean we can't all do a little bit. If not taking a photo with an alpaca loses them some business and deters people from pursuing this kind of job in the future, then I know I've done my part.

The next time you see your favorite animal while traveling and decide you MUST have a photo with them, think about it: do you love this animal and need a picture with it? Or can you love this animal so much, you want to do what is best for it and protect it?