I think there is value in changing the language we in the herp-keeping community use--this may seem fairly minor but it helps frame our hobby in a more positive light.

It's simple: change "in captivity" to "in the home" or "domestically" and "captive-bred" to "domestically-produced." We don't hear of people keeping dogs and cats, or even fish, "in captivity." "Captivity" has significant emotional "baggage" associated with it and I think it unfairly colors our argument.

For example, "the popularity of herps in the home is increasing" sounds a lot more agreeable to the unititiated than "the keeping of herps in captivity is increasing."

I think it would go a long way to changing the mindset of people who are otherwise neutral towards herp-keeping, and might help sway these "undecided" to our message vs. those of the anti-herp crowd.

Thoughts?


-----
Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

[ Hide Replies ]

• Change Our Language - Chris_McMartin, Tue Nov 30 22:31:41 2010
• Agreed - OHI, Wed Dec 1 01:43:02 2010
• RE: Agreed - Chris_McMartin, Wed Dec 1 12:08:04 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - jscrick, Wed Dec 1 14:16:10 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - jpenney, Thu Dec 2 02:09:26 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - Chris_McMartin, Thu Dec 2 22:36:21 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - varanid, Fri Dec 3 10:57:29 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - wireptile, Fri Dec 3 11:15:42 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - jscrick, Fri Dec 3 13:04:39 2010
• more... - jscrick, Fri Dec 3 13:49:37 2010
• RE: more... - emysbreeder, Fri Dec 3 20:19:52 2010
• RE: more... - jscrick, Sat Dec 4 11:49:05 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - EricWI, Sat Dec 4 12:36:47 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - emysbreeder, Sat Dec 4 23:12:24 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - jscrick, Sun Dec 5 11:30:16 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - emysbreeder, Sun Dec 5 21:56:50 2010
• RE: Change Our Language - emysbreeder, Mon Dec 6 09:50:40 2010