To be saddened people still do these things on holiday?

[lastqueenofscotland]

Had a summer of holidays pictures on social media m which had included a lot of people
Swimming with dolphins
Going to sea world in Orlando
Posing with drugged up tigers for pictures
Riding elephants in Thailand

So on and so forth. In an age where information about the poor treatment of these animals is so well known and freely available AIBU to feel a bit sad about it.
I also want to publicly call them out... but that won’t go well.

nononever -see my post just above yours!

Just saw your update about my update!!

Yes we cross posted!

Years ago I went to a dolphin show in Valencia and cried all the way through it. The pools are sooo small for such animals.
For those not sure about the seaworld issue this pic may put into perspective the issue with these huge magnificent very intelligent animals being kept is such small pools.

I just saw a beautiful way of describing this shit in a news article about a celeb. I’m going to go find it.

‘Her efforts weren't driven by need or desperation, but by a sense of entitlement, or at least moral cluelessness, facilitated by wealth and insularity'.

The sense of entitlement facilitated by wealth and western privilege just sickens me. I feel the same about going on safari. It smacks of colonialism. All the white people being ferried around gawping at another land. Fucking hell. The only thing that makes me feel calmer about it is that it takes money over there and hopefully helps the animals and locals. I do judge though.

I saw wild dolphins in Newquay in Wales. We were sat eating our butties then a pod appeared . Absolutely stunning.
It is a privilege to see these animals, not a right that you pay for so that they are captured or bred in captivity

Reasons not to visit orphanages abroad

www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/to-do-orphanage-tourism-blog/

I coincidentally have just read an article about tiger cubs being bred specifically for tourist encounters. This is only safe until they are 12 weeks old, after that they end up often in horrific small cages being neglected, as they are no longer profitable. Or being used to breed more young cubs for tourist encounters.

It saddens me that Seaworld is still open and that western families still happily hand over their money to visit. It’s so cruel.

I was saddened to read that an aquarium in the US (maybe others) has whale sharks. We've swam with them in the wild and I just cannot imagine these magnificent creatures in captivity. Thank god we won't see a great white in captivity, it has been tried in the past and failed thankfully.

I went swimming with dolphins once. It was one of the best things I've done in my life. Wild dolphins in the sea, they even let you touch them. Not grab fins or ride on them or anything like that, they'd have been off if you tried anything like that, it was amazing. I know that's not what you're talking about though.

Also swimming with dolphins is really a bucket list item for people with no imagination.

Our son went to the Tiger Temple in Thailand when he was on his gap year. He was horrified and really regrets it, he said he had no idea about the drugging of the animals but obviously witnessed it first hand. The good news is that it was eventually shut down

Also, if anyone wants to go and see dolphins in the wild and needs to swim with/near them, go to Kefalonia. The dolphins around Argostoli are incredible and swim alongside the boats coming in and out, and the turtles in the harbour alongside the restaurants are beyond beautiful. Our DC still talk about snorkelling off the back of the boat 50 metres from a pod of dolphins playing.

There is nothing more wonderful than taking children to see those kinds of things because it's just humans and animals alongside one another.

I swam with dolphins in the wild, it was fucking terrifying 🤣 They were so fast and there were so many of them and I just had to get out.

Re visiting/volunteering at (human) orphanages, this is now very outdated. Can you imagine a load of backpackers being allowed to traipse in and out of a UK care home? No? Then why would it be a good idea in Africa?

Can I just give Monkey Mia as an exception for interacting with dolphins?

I've never managed to get there but it'son my bucket list.

www.sharkbay.org/monkey-mia-dolphins-101-everything-you-need-to-know/

Orphans aren't there to make you feel good on holiday. Most 'orphans' actually have parents - if you want to help, donate to a charity that supports children to stay with their parents.

If you are volunteering your time - could this role actually be done better by a local worker given that labour is cheap in the place you have visited? So you 'taught children to read' - what are your teaching skills? How did the children really learn from someone who came for one day/one week and then buggered off. It's not the same as a proper teacher doing a curriculum is it?

Would you go into a children's home to look at the sad children and get them all to give a hug in your home town? Well obviously not.

So don't do it in Thailand either.

I support and visit an orphanage in the far east. Have done for 35 years. There is no state aid of any sort. The whole set up is run by volunteers and donations. They do a really good job caring for, and educating children who would otherwise be begging on the streets, exploited for the sex trade.
It is very unfair to state that all such places are corrupt.

I’ve been in the water with wild dolphins three times. Nothing can beat the thrill that they choose to be there with you (however briefly) and can disappear if they wish. Not as predictable as captive dolphins, and one encounter was probably only about a minute out of a two hour trip, but it was still amazing. Watching or interacting with these animals in captivity holds no interest for me.

A lot of orphanages for children are not good places to support either. There is a lot of information online.

The best charities to support are the ones run locally that don't ask foreigners to visit. People who are going to show up once or twice, with little to no idea about the culture or history of the country, possibly bearing exciting, glamourous western gifts are not good volunteer material. There is no chance to form a bond or to do anything other than pay lip service. Support charities that are locally run with expert local knowledge. Friends in Cambodia is great, they provide training and jobs for vulnerable children and teenagers. Mlop Tapang is also good, provides jobs making products from recycled material.

@SinisterBumFacedCat

Well I must have a really shit imagination. I still think about those beautiful wild dolphins, and that they let us swim with them, 25 years later.

"Would you go into a children's home to look at the sad children and get them all to give a hug in your home town? Well obviously not."

Exactly this.

The way wealthy westerners act towards poor children in Asia and Africa turns my stomach.

They're not a photo/bragging/validation opportunity.

Many of the children are the children of young girls exploited by western men. Some are HIV positive and their mothers are dead.
There is no state funding or benefit system at all.

Would you go into a children's home to look at the sad children and get them all to give a hug in your home town? Well obviously not.

Quite. A friend went on an eco yoga holiday in South America that involved visiting an orphanage and posted on social media about how on the first visit, one particular little girl was very shy but then was all smiles and hugs on the second because she “trusted them”.

All I could think about was that poor little girl being expected to interact with a succession of wealthy tourists paraded through her home, and no doubt getting her hopes up.

I visit as a supporter, by appointment/ invitation. Not to gawk.