Circuses, Rodeos, and Zoos

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Why can't you have turtles as pets? Lots of people do. You can get them online from breeders or at reptile expos. Red eared sliders are popular.

You make a good point that I meant to, but forgot to add to my last post,and that is that there are certain areas of rodeos that aren't abusive at all. Some of the competitions, like barrel racing, is fun for all involved, and I don't have any problem with it. I mostly have an issue with the 'wrangling' of calves, and the bull riding. It's been years since I've been to a rodeo, though where I come from they're very commonplace.

No, I have not ever read 'Thanking The Monkey'. This is just something that's always been on my mind, even as a child. It seemed that no one else understood my overwhelming feeling of empathy for the animals, so I thought I'd ask here. I guess this is a sort of an "Is this an autistic thing" thread.

I share that empathy. I've always had this special thing with animals. Barrel racing and other speed events is what did, lots of fun. I taught myself how to rope a bit, but I never roped animals. I hate to say it, but there is abuse in speed events as well...the worst bit I ever saw was a horse that wouldn't leave the alleyway so they had someone whip it from behind and another person kick it in the stomach until it entered the arena People that do that aren't allowed to come back (where I rode, anyway). The worst things I've ever seen were all results of pure accidents, stuff that is just plain depressing. "Thanking the Monkey" is a good book if you get a chance to read it...it has a lot of pictures and comics and it's very colorful so it holds your attention quite well.

When I'm around groups of people I feel like I'm watching wild animals at the zoo sometimes but I think the animals are less wild
Anyways... I never been to a rodeo but I think rodeos are very cruel to animals but I also think hunting & fishing is cruel & most people around my area are into that I think I've only been to a circus a couple times when I was little but I don't remember much about it. I imagine the circuses would treat the animals much better than a rode would. If the lions wer getting abused; they would not be tame. I haven't been to the zoo in over 10 years. I think the animals in the zoo have it kind of good in a way. They are not being hunted by humans or other animals The zoos try to make the animals comfortable & some of those animals would be dead if they wer in the wild. I do still feel bad but I'm being analytical about it

It's not just you! Even as I child, I would feel sorry for the animals in cages. And training them to do daft things is crazy. I can't admit to much sympathy for those like that trainer women who got killed by a killer whale in a show recently.

I'm even dubious about the whole concept of 'pets'. If a weed is a plant in the wrong place, a pet is an animal in the wrong place. Yes, I know that humans have bred these poor creatures to by super-cute, fluffy and they are now so pathetic they couldn't survive in the wild (hey, just like us!). I can't imagine my way into a mind so warped, it breeds a creature with features that the owner finds aesthetically pleasing (yet ugly to me), yet have a negative effect on the animals health and well-being.

I was given some aquarium fish a few years ago and I am always in two minds whether to just let them go in a nearby stream. They are cold water fish. Even if they only lived for a couple of days before being eaten by a bigger fish, I wonder if 2 days of *real* life is better than 5 years in a tank. I look after them as best I can, when 1 dies, I don't replace it. However, none have died for over a year!

One thing I particularly dislike is caged birds. It is an offence against the whole of existence to cage a flying creature. I think it is a reflection of how 'caged' we feel in our existence, that we desire to cage other creatures too. We don't want to be reminded of the natural freedom and the beauty of the wildness we have lost, so we cage others.

Yes, in civilised countries they do, but I don't live in one.

I love turtles, they are the most wonderful animals I can imagine! I have always thought so.

But reptiles are forbidden to keep as pets in this hell hole of a land I'm stuck in. If people keep these beauties as pets and are found out, the poor little ones are killed unless some zoo can take them on.
There is no excuse for the murder of healthy harmless animals! I hate this nation with all my essence, cheering whenever something s****y happens to norway.

The ****-heads called authorities blame salmonella
(1. Just wash your hands for crying out loud. 2. If salmonella is the problem, then all birds must be forbidden and actually mammals as well)
and that they don't belong to the local fauna
(as opposed to tarantulas, guinea pigs, budgies, parrots, gerbils and a *long* list of other common pets).

The result: animals get sick and their owners don't dare take them to the vet for fear of their beloved pet getting murdered by the barbaric "authorities", as well as reptiles being smuggled in, caught in brutal ways and kept crammed in bags or similar without food, water and fresh air. Some die on their way. Some of these species might be endangered but who knows since there is no control.
People will always want these pets and no laws stop it, it just makes the lives of innocent animals as well as their owners, hard. And what really drives me nuts is that there is absolutely no real reason for it!!

The only way to keep animals like these from suffering is to allow them in controlled forms.

The socalled exotic law of animal protection (yeah, some protection, killing them!) was made in 1976, I think, in the 70's anyway.

It is assumed that there are 100 000 illegal reptiles in norway (I have no idea how they estimate that, seeems like a huge unknown to me).

I know red rears are great! They are beautiful, bright and good natured.

The only persons who *can* (not necessarily *will*) get a licence to keep a turtle or tortoise, are those with asthma/allergies. I have both and our vet said he'd write a letter of recommendation if I wanted to apply. I'll try later but right now I can only think of my late pet, I miss her so much and am not ready for another pet yet.

The worst case I heard about was a Russian who brought with him several hundred turtles over the border. They were of an endangered species. He was discovered. The decision of the local "authorities"? to have these endangered animals killed because they had no other choice. There was nothing else they could do.

I'm glad that rodeo weekend is over. I used to have a fearful friend call me up, and ask if I wanted to go to the Cloverdale rodeo. We'd get there, and she'd cling to me, the entire time. She'd get me to go on all the rides, with her but, she learned her lesson, when I got sick, on one of the rides.

Form a group of other reptile lovers and fight the power... Or move to the states or the UK. I'm going to move the the UK or South Africa. If this zoologist gets his way and it becomes illegal to keep meerkats as pets in South Africa I will fight the power.