Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Animal (Rights) Planet once more bring us some interesting (propaganda) programming - Killer Aliens! - The Animal Planet special, debuting in a two hour special on Sunday, March 14, 2010 from 8-10 PM ET/PT. The Sunshine State is being overrun by lethal Burmese pythons, feral hogs, voracious Nile monitor lizards, and Gambian rats the size of cats.

More info - http://www.examiner.com/x-4819-Cable-TV-Examiner~y2010m2d26-Killer-Aliens-explores-invasive-species-on-Animal-Planet

Plus -

"Invasive species have become a serious issue in the U.S. The front lines are expanding, and no one knows where they are headed next," says Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of Animal Planet. "The stories of these creatures' proliferation make for fascinating, important and compelling television."

I am a little more then sure this won't be a reasonable, well done program. They are sure to mention rats as large as cats, but not the cats themselves...

We also get FATAL ATTRACTIONS!

"Primates and Big Cats and Snakes, Oh My...Animal Planet Explores Cautionary Tales of Love Doomed From the Start"

http://press.discovery.com/us/apl/press-releases/2010/primates-and-big-cats-and-snakes-oh-myanimal-plane/

"Owners unhesitatingly share their experiences with exotic pets and offer explanations as to why their love for these deadly animals are worth the risk for something horrible -- even death - to happen"

Amazing. Its a big push by Animal Planet, and the folks who work there and run it, to discredit us, I think. Its about more then ratings.

They seem to want to make the people keeping these KILLER ALIENS! looks nuts, and then they don't count for squat when it comes down to voting, or their individual rights. Is there any way to really make a dent on Animal Planet over this? Run an add about them passing misinformation off as facts? Hold them accountable for spreading misinformation? I have written to them many times before and gotten crummy form letters back.

I just know (I do educational programs) I am going to hear this garbage repeated back to me over & over & over, with the people saying, "It was on Animal Planet, its got to be the truth! They won't distort the facts"

Animal Planets Dave Salmoni lets the world know that he is Anti Exotic Pet Ownership on Larry King Live...

(Its near the bottom, like the last 1/3 of the thing)
http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/05/lkl.01.html

"SALMONI: Absolutely. I mean, the fact that there are people who have no training at all that take these pets, they don't make good pets, they shouldn't be pets. There are people who know how to take care of wild animals. We've got accredited zoos, we've got people that have spent years of their lives studying how these animals can be best taken care of. And I think that's what we have to realize, that there are animals"

As I said in the Boa forum & Burm forum where I also posted similar info, these are the things that are really hurting our credibility as much as the keepers who dump animals and so on - The public is going to be hearing how we are apparently "mentally deficient" as keepers now...

Maybe it's time we did something about it. Letters to the station will do no good but to the sponsors will. We need a list of all the sponsors for one day on the animal planet. We need their names and a mailing address. Are there any ideas out there how we contact a few thousand people to write the letters?
Michael Luhrs

The main problem with Dave's speech was lumping Reptile keepers in with those that keep chimps, tigers,and other mammals. All the mammals mentioned are ones people react with in such manners as speech and sound on levels we reptile keepers do not. Reptiles are on their own from birth and have the strongest drive for independence (in my opinion) while mammals are bottle fed and raised like children to one extent or another. I am not downing other types of keepers but most herps are kept(in my opinion) with the understanding that they do not reciprocate love or some sense of love that lures mammal keepers into a false sense of trust. I noticed they had various chimp keepers on the show but want to see if we will ever get a chace to speak our side of the story if they continue to lump us in with mammal keepers.

While I would never claim that reptiles are as "reactive" as mammals, I would say that a great number of reptiles are as interactive. Lizards, and at least Crocodilians & Tortoises can be trained to respond to vocal commands. While these animals don't seek out "attention", they can still be very attentive and engaging animals to be around.

I agree that POOR mammal keepers are more likely to be drawn in more by the cute factor, but good mammal keepers are alert and attentive of their charges. The mammal keepers who are most likely to have problems are probably those who treat the animals they keep, not as animals, but as "surrogate children". We can even see that with common domestic species, like dogs. I think if we were to look at the cases where snakes have killed their keepers, besides SFE's, keepers who anthropomorphised their reptiles, and did not respect them as reptiles are those that were the most likely to end up having problems with them.

With Fred Kaufman as the series "Fatal Attractions" executive Producer, its not meant to have any other angle then pushing for a ban and calling us all sick in the head, I am sure. They most certainly don't want any reasonable person on there saying ANYTHING positive about the keeping of exotic animals. He serves on the advisory board of The Humane Society of the United States Hollywood Division.

Its not about fair and rounded, and its not about representing anything real. Its about animal rights propaganda, fear tactics, slamming us, and discrediting exotic keepers as a whole.

As I've said before, Perhaps Animal (Rights) PROPAGANDA Planet would be a more fitting name. Wouldn't surprise me if a few sizeable checks from H$U$ were floating around behind the scenes to get this garbage aired...

www.rexano.org/NewsArchivePages/Animal_Planet_REXANO.pdf

Here is an article about this in the Minnesota Star Tribune. There is a comments section below.

CiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUr" target="_blank">www.startribune.com/entertainment/tv/86689917.html?elr=KArksCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUr

The sad part is that, at least from the commercials I've seen for that show, it's kind of hard to argue the facts of the cases they've come up with. Let's face it: a maned lion should not be eating from the dining room table, and I personally would NOT advise kissing a chimp. Unfortunately, they'll be like everyone else and take a few freak things that we all honestly agree SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED and then draw the conclusion that "exotic pets are dangerous and should be illegal". Somehow, I don't think my bearded dragons, african pygmy hedgehogs, day geckos and chinchillas pose much threat to my well-being (unless one can die of terminal cuteness LoL), but that part of "exotic pet ownership" isn't covered in any of these shows, is it?

It's sort of like showing a handful of cases where people died from swallowing really stupid stuff like pens, etc, and drawing the conclusion that swallowing is bad and we shouldn't allow anyone to swallow anymore.

Crystal
Stark

Animal Planet has always been in the back pocket of HateSUS and I fear for more than just the reptile and amphibian trade. Directly or indirectly, the AP/AR agenda, if it succeeds, will separate people further from the natural world. People will care less about a given species/habitat because they will not be educated through direct experience with it. The information most people get will be from media and people will have little other information available to them. How often does the media get it right? As we increasingly move into urban settings we will have less contact with the natural world and care less. Only the wealthy will have the opportunity to enjoy the natural world first hand. I truly believe the current push against the reptile trade is due to knowledge by AP/AR that people will increasingly keep them as pets. The connection people will feel toward pets will translate into a more educated, compassionate and active group of citizens. These citizens will find it difficult to be made into pets themselves.

Thats why you have to hit them were it hurts, in the pocket book!! We can talk till we are blue in the face and it will go nowhere till we start acting like the power house we are. Just the reptile part of the pet trade is 100 times bigger than the AR groups. If we stop the cash they will die!!

People that won't listen to reason...those that won't accept facts...those that are emotionally driven and unyielding...we may call them hard-headed or stubborn...some we may certainly call Animal Rights Ideologues.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

I won't be watching it not only because I wouldn't want to but because I can't. My satellite got cut off in october of 2008. I haven't really been able to afford getting it hooked back up, Quite honestly I haven't really missed it, I'm quite happy with watching a few things on hulu now and then.
I am far from alone. Last year I took a job for a few weeks for a subcontractor for the major cable company in the Orlando area (if you're BRIGHT you know who it is.). I was supposed to be installing cable but spent most of my time disconnecting it. In theory the subcontractor was only supposed to be doing the disconnects that involved people who had moved or changed providers not disconnects for people who didn't pay their bills. Those were supposed to be handled directly by the companies actual employees. Realistically we ended up doing those as well which told me that the company had more disconnects than their employees could handle on their own. I really suspect their are a lot fewer cable and satellite subscribers out there these days than you might realize and quite a few people who could care less about snakes in the everglades as the have nothing to do with how their next mortgage payment is going to get paid or how they are going to put food on the table or even if there will still be a table to put it on. Like I said however they can clutch at straws and do any kind of alarmist show they want but if their ratings are still in the toilet because people can't watch it or just don't care what good does it do?

This is an excellent post, and a major reason I keep on fighting. My early fascination with finding and keeping reptiles was what led to my later involvement in the "mainstream" environmental movment, and biology in general. I know many of you out there can relate similar experiences.

There is no knowledge like "hands-on" knowledge-it's what leads to real passion for wildlife and wild lands!
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Breeder of:
Green Tree Pythons
Jungle Carpet Pythons
Pastel, Pinstripe, FIRE, Piebald, Clown, Lavender Albino, Leucistic, and Spider Ball Pythons
Striped Colombian Boa Constrictors
Kenyan, Rufescens, and Conicus Sand Boas
Red Phase Western Hognose Snakes
Spider Western Hognose Snakes
Albino Western Hognose Snakes
Locality Trans-Pecos Mexican Hognose Snakes
Southern Hognose Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snakes
Tricolor Hognose Snakes
Hypo Checkered Garter Snakes
Eastern Blackneck Garter Snakes
Stillwater Hypo Bullsnakes
Patternless Bullsnakes
S. GA Eastern Kingsnakes
Locality Desert Kingsnakes
Albino Desert Kingsnakes
Hypo Desert Kingsnakes
Mexican Black Kingsnakes
Desert Phase, Striped Desert, Newport, and Coastal California Kingsnakes
Locality Mexican Milksnakes
Spotted Mexican Milksnakes
Tangerine Mexican Milksnakes
Locality Alterna
Abbott Okeetee Cornsnakes
Mexican Baird's Ratsnakes
Cape Housesnakes
Tangerine Albino African Fat -Tailed Geckos
Locality Spotted Turtles

"Unfortunately, they'll be like everyone else and take a few freak things that we all honestly agree SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED and then draw the conclusion that "exotic pets are dangerous and should be illegal"

The monitor incident is completely blown out of proportion for the program - They go as far on their site as saying "Man killed by Komodo Dragon"

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/fatal-attractions-killed-by-a-pet-komodo-dragon.html

And, from Larry King Live -

"One man's pet lizard killed him and then ate him. It's true. That fatal attraction is next on LARRY KING LIVE."

"UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Further investigation began to uncover evidence that Huff had been bitten just days before his death. In the past, he had been strong enough to fight off infections, but by the time he realized the symptoms were overtaking him, it could have been too late. The first bite might have been bad luck on Huff's part. But now he was defenseless. Ron Huff's death was gruesome. But to those who understood him, it seems to have come about because he was more concerned for the welfare of his pets than himself."

http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/05/lkl.01.html
(Here is the link - the animal bit is about 2/3 of the way to the bottom)

With Fred Kaufman as the series "Fatal Attractions" executive Producer, its not meant to have any other angle then pushing for a ban and calling us all sick in the head, I am sure. He serves on the advisory board of The Humane Society of the United States Hollywood Division.

Its not about fair and rounded, and its not about representing anything real. Its about animal rights propaganda, fear tactics, slamming us, and discrediting exotic keepers as a whole. They want to prevent you from keeping your bearded dragons, african pygmy hedgehogs, day geckos and chinchillas as much as they want to prevent us from having big snakes or big lizards.

"One man's pet lizard killed him and then ate him. It's true. That fatal attraction is next on LARRY KING LIVE."

That sounds like a libelous statement to me.

"UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Further investigation began to uncover evidence that Huff had been bitten just days before his death. In the past, he had been strong enough to fight off infections, but by the time he realized the symptoms were overtaking him, it could have been too late. The first bite might have been bad luck on Huff's part. But now he was defenseless. Ron Huff's death was gruesome. But to those who understood him, it seems to have come about because he was more concerned for the welfare of his pets than himself."

Does not adequately support the first statement.

jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

Jakks Pacific is a CA based toy and consumer product company that has just signed a license to make Animal (Rights) Planet products for pets. Let's all contact JP and tell them to pull their support for Animal (Rights) Propaganda Planet.

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