tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post3936391797286972424..comments2024-03-16T12:45:12.251-04:00Comments on Raised By Wolves: Missing the Lesson While Learning ItHeather Houlahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13891198124130533198noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-76807523864423644172012-08-04T02:58:57.101-04:002012-08-04T02:58:57.101-04:00Ah, the interwebz belches forth another original, ...Ah, the interwebz belches forth another original, thoughtful, evidence-rich statement, on par with <i>We have always been at war with Eastasia</i> and <i>Jesus loves me, this I know.</i><br /><br />"Respect and trust" in re: an incarcerated orca is just shorthand for "Have so far avoided being the object of the inevitable collective comeuppance of the captivity industry."Heather Houlahanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13891198124130533198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-41925035058002124392012-08-03T19:45:51.565-04:002012-08-03T19:45:51.565-04:00Punishment doesn't work, but Respect and Trust...Punishment doesn't work, but Respect and Trust go a long way.<br /><br />http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b171/OrcinusOrca/LJ/MeKotar.jpgOrcinushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09976020188696001158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-70204924998610138632011-09-12T20:13:40.051-04:002011-09-12T20:13:40.051-04:00That endline is classic. AhYep.That endline is classic. AhYep.Jennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15597630887713954960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-45838711889277642442010-03-04T07:20:00.355-05:002010-03-04T07:20:00.355-05:00Kudos for unearthing the 2003 WDJ interview with T...Kudos for unearthing the 2003 WDJ interview with Tompkins. It's revealing to be sure, and a hair disturbing, sort of like a flasher.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-8208779521168252172010-03-01T20:36:43.795-05:002010-03-01T20:36:43.795-05:00Really lovely combination of moral outrage and lev...Really lovely combination of moral outrage and level-headed thinking, as usual. On the Sea World backstage tours, they let you get up close and personal with everything except the Orcas. And it's not like a walrus is harmless. <br /><br />Yes, Cyborg Suzy, may of the PP people hold marine mammal trainers and training in high regard. In the first edition of "Don't Shoot the Dog" is says you can train a dog without ever touching it. Read that and thought I could teach a child to read without being in the same room with him, but why would I do something that difficult when I could make life easier for both of us?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-85289461424344588312010-03-01T12:28:49.468-05:002010-03-01T12:28:49.468-05:00Kate, I'm not having any trouble with the link...Kate, I'm not having any trouble with the link, so am utterly mystified.<br /><br />I also went to Sea World in Aurora as a child.<br /><br />I loved it, but also remember how bad the water stank of chlorine and sea lion shit.<br /><br />I was just as impressed by the fallow deer in the petting zoo as by the performing whale.<br /><br />Adults often justify things for the sake of edjimicating the children when no such thing is taking place.Heather Houlahanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13891198124130533198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-12859467933074238562010-03-01T12:18:16.036-05:002010-03-01T12:18:16.036-05:00Okay, I found it by going to YouTube and searching...Okay, I found it by going to YouTube and searching under his name and whales in capitivity. When I copied and pasted the address from here into the search engine, it only offered up the Sea World site, which was just weird.<br /><br />I used to go to the Sea World in Aurora, Ohio when I was younger, but once they brought in a 'zoo' with zebras and tigers that were actually being taken care of like they were at a petting zoo, I had had enough of their indifference to respecting the animals, and never went back. The park closed a good while back and I don't miss it. Every 20 feet there was a gift shop, and far to little education really happened.KateHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-46562994865852679202010-03-01T12:12:45.136-05:002010-03-01T12:12:45.136-05:00I had no idea that 'positive only' dog tra...I had no idea that 'positive only' dog trainers held marine mammal trainers in such high regard. The mental dissonance (or careful ignorance) required for such admiration astounds.<br /><br />This is why I love this blog. Not only do I learn things, but it's things that astonish even my black, cynical heart.adminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04605428127471399424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-85141123722822783802010-03-01T12:05:34.572-05:002010-03-01T12:05:34.572-05:00Heather, why does that youtube address go straight...Heather, why does that youtube address go straight to a Sea World corporate site?KateHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-28231594109614940482010-02-28T21:27:55.097-05:002010-02-28T21:27:55.097-05:00I referenced the lack of an SSP because where thos...I referenced the lack of an SSP because where those are in place, overuse of a sire on whatever females are handy is verboten.<br /><br />Of course, orcas lack one because the captive population is a trivial percentage of the wild populations. As well, most orcas are owned by for-profit entities, not zoological parks that participate in this conservation effort.<br /><br />But Sea World et. al. are playing a short-term game -- trying to maximize the number of performers in the next generation by breeding over and over to the bull that is the most successful sire. They aren't thinking generations ahead, to the health of the captive gene pool.<br /><br />Are they placing a bet that the business model of whales as corporate-owned performers does not have a long-term future because of the gradual evolution of public sentiment? Or are they counting on being able to kidnap more animals from wild pods in a decade or so?<br /><br />I keep going back to Jean-Michel Cousteau's <i>perfect</i> distillation of the issue.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp8MkPyBE5A<br /><br />I cut my baby teeth on his father's television shows, the wonder of the ocean and its creatures; like so many of my generation, I desperately wanted to be a marine biologist and go exploring with Jacque and Philippe and Jean-Michele.<br /><br />Of course, every biophilic child growing up in the 70's was not destined to a life of soggy field research.<br /><br />But Jean-Michele's sublime distillation of the status of whales reminds me why I care about the world, and how humanizing and expanding his family's work was for me and so many others. Whatever small and lopsided pearls I may comprise formed around a perfect seed called Calypso.Heather Houlahanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13891198124130533198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-14686375162520663732010-02-28T21:20:40.219-05:002010-02-28T21:20:40.219-05:00Maybe they need to take a few years and do what th...Maybe they need to take a few years and do what the Soviets did with their fox breeding programs: create a calm, friendly strain of orca.<br /><br />Maybe the whales will turn spotted or all-white as a result. Of course, their dorsal fins will still droop and their tail flukes will remain curled, so no gain there like with the foxes' ears and tails...Viateciohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08523551407472141202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-83969350145121836182010-02-28T20:47:32.011-05:002010-02-28T20:47:32.011-05:00Marine mammal breeding programs exist because they...Marine mammal breeding programs exist because they don't allow them to bring those animals into captivity any longer and is not related to their status in the wild.<br /><br />This is why Sea World has been gobbling up marine mammals when they have the chance...and it is always ugly as they really hold onto the corporate mentality.Ark Ladyhttp://www.arkanimals.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-14359804558972165562010-02-28T14:11:00.370-05:002010-02-28T14:11:00.370-05:00No need for a species survival plan.
These animal...No need for a species survival plan.<br /><br />These animals aren't endangered. They are "Least Concern" by the ICUN, which publishes a Red List of which species are in the most trouble.<br /><br />The most interesting thing I've read about orcas is that they may be developing into separate species. Different populations have different ecological niches.<br /><br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8440000/8440002.stm<br /><br />Although I don't think of dogs as separate species from wolves, these two populations are evolving into different forms that are about as equivalent as the differences between wild Canis lupus and Canis lupus familiaris.Retrievermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15780519136583108632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-82478080436281168962010-02-27T16:04:57.780-05:002010-02-27T16:04:57.780-05:00I stopped using the WDJ as litter pan liner after ...I stopped using the WDJ as litter pan liner after that article Heather.<br /><br />When you wrote the comment about the family, I remembered the article.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-6599910577299083562010-02-27T15:40:57.028-05:002010-02-27T15:40:57.028-05:00I'll second Smartdogs: I do not hold the WDJ i...I'll second Smartdogs: I do not hold the WDJ in a high esteem. Their food articles and reviews are worth a gander, but other than that, I could get more use of the publication as kindling. Firewood would probably be cheaper, though!<br /><br />I think the best article I ever read about about how, despite what "everyone ELSE" was saying about tug being BAD OHNOEZ because it makes AGGRESSIVE DOGZ, it was actually a very beneficial game in some respects. I almost wrote to them with utter astonishment, that they'd discovered the best-kept-secret of many a balanced trainer and Schutzhund trainer worldwide!Viateciohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08523551407472141202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810033429461791744.post-39176549703628800072010-02-27T15:15:28.139-05:002010-02-27T15:15:28.139-05:00I note that Thompkins' need to feel liked ties...I note that Thompkins' need to feel liked ties in perfectly with the prevailing dogma of the WDJ mindset. Their training philosophy is completely and utterly self-centered. <br /><br />It's all about <i>them</i> and their need to feel warm, fuzzy and "pure". Even the only way they can achieve it means keeping animals as prisoners (or hostages, ala Stephen King's "Misery").Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com