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

Doesn't look as if it was bery successful

My SIL proudly posted pics of her in Dubai with penguins where they're allowed to pose with them holding up their flippers.
Behind her was a really long queue - felt so sorry for the penguins

Can I recommend anyone visiting Florida who might be interested in Sea World to check out the Clearwater Marine Aquarium instead. It's a non-profit rescue centre where you can see dolphins up close in an ethical way (all the dolphins and other animals kept there are rescues who would be unable to exist in the wild, and they obviously don't do tricks or anything like that), and your money funds marine rescue, rehabilitation and research. It's easy driving distance from Sea World!

Ive always hated Seaworld, I wonder how the hell anyone can still go if theyve seen the widely publicised videos of hunts in Japan etc.. breaks my heart
I used to enjoy boat trips to see dolphins in the wild until I went on one trip when a school was surrounded by tourist boats, that made me really sad
I used to quite enjoy zoos also believing the conservation angle until I went to Edinburgh and saw the poor pandas there a few years ago and saw that elephants only live approx half their life expectancy in zoos. I wont touch them now

Yes, I think it is dreadful too and sadly I have one person on my fb page who styles herself as a major animal lover, always banging on about how much she loves animals (FAAAAAR more than us mere mortals it must be understood) and yet she has posted photos of her son (child) in seaworld a couple of years ago and her daughters up close to tigers & riding elephants in Thailand. And she sees nothing wrong with this. She is an idiot.

I hate seaworld and its ilk, but don't have so much of a problem with people riding Indian elephants as they are working animals, like horses and camels.

We're doing Florida next year and Sea World is the one place we are absolutely not going to. I'm not a vegan or a silk refuser but large aquatic animals in swimming pools is awful.

I went to a water park in Portugal where people walked around with snakes for people to drape over there sweaty, suncreamed bodies.
I have a Facebook 'friend' who posts about how she loves animals and most of the pictures are animals dressed up or zoo pictures. I despair, just don't get how people don't give a shit.

I know the reasons why not to go to seaworld etc. The idea of chained up animals for entertainment such as bear baiting or the camels described above break my heart.

But where I am in a grey area is this: What about horse riding? My son would love to join up- we are no where near a centre so it was something I was looking into.

What about greyhound/horse racing? I see some threads every year about those.

Zoo's? In Ireland where I live, we have a zoo and a wildlife park, lots of space and animals walking around you, but are they unethical too?

We went to the farm at Christmas and they had a snake out for the kids to touch and pose with. Im not sure, is that ok?

Genuine question btw- not snarky.

Atenco, here's PETA's view on 'working' elephants.

Riding elephants is totally unacceptable. I suggest you google how a baby elephant is broken for the tourist trade. We went to ENP in Chiang Mai last year, which is a refuge for working animals run by an amazing lady called Lek Chailert. It was an education. I was anti animal tourism in the first place, now I am positively evangelical about it.
Anyone visiting Thailand should look her up, it was a fabulous experience.

Not saying this refers to your camp TheGonnagle, but it's known that there are 'scam' camps:

*Scam ‘Sanctuaries’
Elephant camps throughout Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and other Asian countries are notorious for duping the public into believing that their activities benefit elephants—often by claiming to rescue them or offer them “sanctuary”—but the reality is far darker. The international watchdog organization TRAFFIC has documented that wild elephants are being captured and broken to allow public contact. Young calves are taken from their mothers and tortured until they give up all hope and submit. Elephants are tightly chained when not being used for rides.

“In Myanmar, domesticated elephants are used to corral wild animals into pit-traps where older protective members of herds are often killed and the higher value, younger animals taken. The young are then transported to Thai-Myanmar border areas and then mentally broken and prepared for training before being sold into the tourism industry in Thailand where they are put to work at tourist camps or hotels.”

—2014 TRAFFIC report*