It’s very disappointing to say the least to come to SM, a site and it’s junta I hold to the highest regard, and get a reaction like this based on some catty emotional outburst from a third party. I doubt if those people that got on the “OMG you love fur” bandwagon really bothered to read my blog where there was a blurb about fur trimmed (and faux as well) jackets being trendy, so it’s a double whammy.

Some guy made some comment about how I was his usual favorite and now I’m not anymore. How terribly fickle. I hope that you, if you care that is, take the time to read it. In the grand scheme of things I think it’s a serious cheap shot to corner someone in an unrelated post about something they “may have said” on an entirely different site and ask them to justify it. Like the “other” post…it was a discussion about healthcare and some sad chick decided to go skim thru my site and comment on the first thing she thought would offend me. I had more intellectual fights when I was 13.

As for the ethical issues about animals. I’m not vegetarian. I may be 90% of the time but I love seafood so I couldn’t quite possibly have a discussion about the ethics of killing animals. Yes I love animals of almost all kinds but I sincerely don’t think about the feelings of any potential food when I’m eating it. I wouldn’t know how to sugarcoat it for you. A vast majority of people who jump on the “OMG you like fur” issue wear/use leather products and aren’t really vegetarian but its a good bandwagon to jump on I suppose.

We are all complex people with myriad viewpoints who sometimes contradict ourselves because life would be so terribly predictable if we were completely black and white. I generally prefer to accept people for the entire spectrum of their beliefs rather then dismiss them for one or two things I might disagree on. Life would be terribly lonely if I held a light up to every single belief I opposed in someone. It would be terrible disservice to otherwise normal and highly intelligent people I know.

Peace…

I brought this up because I remembered reading (with some surprise, I admit) on another thread that you like fur. That’s the connection and hence the question about cat fur (you clearly love cats) etc. Of course, perhaps I misunderstand and you DON’T support the use of fur — or only support the use of artificial fur, in which case I take the question back…although its an interesting question in any case.

Why the sentimentality about some and utter callousness about others? Would you advocate elephant-hide shoes and cat-fur clothes?

I agree elephants, pumas, cats, cubs of all sorts are precious and special and deserving of our compassion…but does that not apply to minxs, ermine, foxes, nutria and other beautiful creatures we trap in utterly cruel ways and then use for their fur and fur trimming.

Why the sentimentality about some and utter callousness about others? Would you advocate elephant-hide shoes and cat-fur clothes?

So many animals are better taken care of and protected in zoos because human beings have encroached on their natural habitat and they belong to countries where poaching is a problem. I recently saw a wonderful movie called Duma about a Puma who was adopted by this little boy and who eventually returned the cat to the wild. It’s amazing to see animals in real life, whether in a zoo or interacting with humans. I am not really convinced that the love and adoration we experience in their presence is something I’d want to see go away. How many children really would get to see some of these animals in their natural habitat in their lifetime?

I once held a cub in my arms at a sancuary in northern Gujarat. The mother had been killed and the cub could have gotten killed by other males in the pride so it was being tended to in someones house. It looked up purred and licked my face. OMG it was the most exhilirating experience of my life. I want my kids to experience that. OK maybe not holding or touching a cub

I’m torn in my response to zoos. One part of me remembers how much I loved going to them as a child (still do) and feels they have such an important role to play in making children/people realize that this planet is not just for us &%$# human beings. On the other hand, yes, there are terrible cases of deprivation and cruelty leading to all sorts of abnormal physical and psychological trauma for the animals.

On the whole I guess I’d vote for keeping zoos BUT ONLY when they provide humane and ‘natural’ environments that cater to the needs of specific creatures.

I like San Diego Zoo — I don’t know too much about this particular zoo (as in its reputation in the animal rights world), but it seemed to me that they really do try to provide optimum spaces for the animals to the point where you don’t always get to see them which is fine by me.

Also: there is a small zoo up near Sacramento that apparently has a good reputation EVEN with rights groups. Can’t remember the name but if anyone is interested I’ll look it up — I mean to go next time I’m up in Northern Cal.

A tiger/lion/cheeta usually travels around 20-30 miles a night in search of food; it needs that kind of space to live comfortably.No zoo in the world can provide such a habitat. Wild Life sanctuaries are the only answer.

In case of elephants, they usually live in herds. And in most Zoos, the maximum number you can find is 6 elephants.

Like cows living in mechanized farms, elephants also go mad when they are confined to too little space.

However, some of the elephants /tigers may have grown used to the Zoo environment, and may not take to living in the wild immediately. They need to be acclimatized back into their natural habitat, through constant monitoring. Again, there may not be enough funds available with the Wild Life authorities to do this properly.

In some cases, these animals are born and bred in captivity. They have never known the jungle. May be only those animals should be kept in the Zoos, and the exhibits closed after they die eventually.

But yes, since childhood, I never missed an opportunity to go to a Zoo, and it has always been a mixed experience. On the one hand you feel so humble and learn so much from the animals.On the other hand, you get depressed about their lives in captivity.

Would it be possible to combine a zoo and a wildlife refuge so that large animals needing a large range spent MOST of their time in the refuges and were occasionally transferred to the zoos for display? The refuge would have to have a large-ish troupe of animals so that a rotating sub-set could be on zoo display at all times. That’s what they do with office plants, I believe — put plants on display for a while and rotate them back to the nursery to recover.