To be sad that people still go to seaworld/ride elephants etc

[lastqueenofscotland]

The beginning of the summer holiday photos is starting to filter through and already we've had people posing with adult tigers, riding elephants, swimming with dolphins and a group at seaworld.
Aibu to be really saddened that despite the wealth of information about how these animals are sourced and trained that this still happens

Missbax- ds is a vegan and dh is also a veggie so we do a lot of fake cheese, butter, alpro yoghurt, icecreams etc. Dd still eats meat and dairy so we have it in the house. I do try to go for dairy substitutes where possible but not quite gone the whole hog! I think dh and will do so once dd leaves home.

I don't think anyone has to be vegan to know that paying to pose with a drugged up chained down tiger is wrong. I honestly think a tiger living that life is better off dead.

Some people just don't care, I don't know what would make them care either.

Loup I'd agree with you.

It's like saying you can't be against certain conflicts if you aren't an out and out pacifist. It's a weird argument people always drag up.

Yes quite lastqueen, how far do people want to take it? I don't think personally its possible to be truly 100% vegan, not if you get down to the nitty gritty and start counting things like glues and dyes used on public transport seats or in cars etc, so why bash people who want to do some good?
Anyone wanting to make a positive difference in the world ought to be supported, not being put through a morality test and subjected to the "ahh but do you...." stuff.

I'm not vegetarian but we eat meat probably once a fortnight in our house.
I also own a rescue greyhound and if pro racing folk had any idea what these animals get put through and if they had any empathy at all they would think twice about it.
The last time I visited our local zoo was about 8 years ago as I went reluctantly with family. Cried half way round at the state some of the anmimals were In and left.

I'm sure a lot of people will comment on this thread as it seems to be quite a deep subject for a lot of people.

I've never supported any type of racing. The grand national makes me really grit my teeth. You see all the gamblers having an awesome day out in boxes with champagne and canopies and lovely outfits and twenty feet away a poor horse is being shot due to injuries received winning these people the money to sit there in the first place.
Bloody shocking.
I live in the country side and it's amazing how so many of these people locally love their horses so much yet they condone that kind of sport.

This one of the most reasonable AIBUs. No decent person would disagree.

I'm hiding your thread now as I find this sort of thing so upsetting.

And as others have said you do what you can.

Seals and sea lions are the dogs of the sea. Dolphins are like cats. They might come and swim with you but they aren't that bothered. I've swim with wild dolphins as well and they clearly aren't fussed. Seals are all like, "hello, look at me!!!" Which actually makes swimming with captive dolphins worse.

People just go a bit mad when they get close to wild animals. It's a weird phenomenon, and explains why there are always people jumping into zoo enclosures.

I went swimming with whale sharks recently, that was amazing. However, we were all told to not go near them, just swim above and maintain a very healthy distance, and most of us did. But there were idiots going right down to them to get selfies beside them with their go pros - even with the flash on. Fucking ridiculous, I felt ashamed to be part of that trip.

Oh and I'm a meat eater. Does that mean I'm not allowed to care about any animals at all, then?

Of course you are.

I did consider recently that actually there's very little difference between my lovely dogs and, say, a cow though.

I stopped eating meat that day. I'm not saying I'm fully a vegetarian yet (still eating fish), but I'm considering it very carefully at the moment.

I think that particular decision is one that I couldn't have been bullied into; I had to come to it for reasons strong enough to not want to eat meat anymore.

I hate anything involving animals being kept in captivity or wheeled out to perform for human beings' benefit - and I'm not a vegetarian. Zoos, aviaries, birds in cages, also dogs doing tricks on Britain's Got Talent. It turns my stomach.

I wasn't that comfortable on the safari we went on a few years ago either; dozens of vans crowding around to see the herd of elephants at the waterhole, or the resting lioness. I'm sure I read that some animals have started to behave in ways that are not in their nature, eg rhinos running away rather than charging.

my DD is off to florida in august and when they were booking it the agent tried repeatedly (pushing) to book a visit to seaworld for them despite being told that she didnt want to go there as she doesnt agree with large mammals like dolphins and orcas being in captivity

YANBU at all. How can people still be so ignorant???

I went to seaworld while in Florida a couple of years ago. It felt sad, and depressing. And they are clearly trying to promote their 'seaworld cares' agenda, as every show was preceded by a video of conservation. The amount of dolphins in one small tank was shocking.

I've been there a few times since but not to seaworld. I think their numbers are in rapid decline.

Jayfee Life of Pi's logic is utterly ballbags and luckily just a novel. Don't forget it has a Christian-divine-right-to-plunder-and-use-the-natural-world-how-we-like-cos-only-we-are-special viewpoint underlying it.

OP yanbu. Very easy to be in denial/ignore if something looks like fun and lots of people are doing it. Ever see that youtube video of the beachfull of people arsing around with a baby dolphin out of the water. Fuckers.

Went to a Sealife centre a few years ago. Above a sign saying the giant octopus was as intelligent as a dog, was a small, narrow tank with one rubber ring toy in it...and a giant octopus clinging to the glass, looking at me. The people behind had young children who banged on his glass. Broke my heart and would never go back.

To be honest, last time we went to Chester Zoo I was upset by it and I always thought that was an ethical and responsible zoo.

It's wrong to keep animals in captivity IMHO.

Makes me sad too. I wont go to these places. There was a zoo closed down here recently because of failings in animal welfare, a member of staff had been killed by an animal and also there were a high number of animal deaths. Sadly it has just got its licence back. I wish people would stop supporting these dreadful places

That's not the one in south lakes is it?

Yes. Thats the one. "New management" apparently

I've been to Seaworld twice when I was in my teens.
I could never go again now I'm more educated on the whole sorry affair.
I think the film 'Blackfish' should be compulsory viewing at secondary schools. I also think that travel agents/tour operators should pull any support or advertising or funding of those 'attractions' which feature wild animals such as the tigers and elephants in Thailand etc.

I'm getting so many Sea World pics on my Facebook feed right now.

I can see how amazing it is for their kids (all under 6) but I'll never take mine.

I remember going when I was a teen. There were some clearly distressed animals there.

It's nice to hear of other like minded people. Sometimes it feels like most people care about their own enjoyment more than they care about something suffering.

Some of them, IMO, try to make themselves feel more justified by attacking people that do care (for example by saying what they're saying doesn't count if they eat meat etc)...

Wasn'tthere a campaign to stop British Airways from flying to Florida?