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. Read below -

"Many of the characteristics of animal hoarding appear to be present in many of the cases of dangerous, exotic animal ownership," says Josephine Martell, program director of the Captive Wild Animal Protection Campaign. Martell's background is in animal welfare policy, and she has first hand knowledge of exotic pet ownership through investigative work and animal rescues. "In particular, many owners of dangerous animals, such as big cats, are in complete denial about the needs or safety concerns of large, free-ranging carnivores. Many of these owners, like animal hoarders, also profess to love their animals regardless of the conditions they may be keeping them in and seem to believe that the animals truly love them in return.

"It's common for exotic animal owners to believe they have a special kinship with their animals," says Martel, "often to a degree that becomes extreme when they compromise their own and others safety as well as the welfare of the animals."

Oh, and here, the "Expert" is from the Captive Wild Animal Protection Campaign (CWAPC) - The Captive Wild Animal Protection Campaign envisions a world where wild animals are not kept as pets or used for entertainment or commercial purposes, and live free from commercial exploitation.

http://www.cwapc.org/

We are being made to look like a danger to the communities we live in, and to the country we live in. I truly think if we don't or can't counter this BS us, our snakes, and this hobby, are doomed.

(I also posted this info on the burm forum and the law forum)

Thanks for posting this and I will be sure to watch these two shows. I have not watched the Animal Planet Channel for about two years as in my opinion its shows got stranger and stranger with strong anti-pet ownership undertones. Stay the course and keep up the good fight. Bill.
-----
...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

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 were from H$U$ were floating around behind the scenes to get this aired...

www.rexano.org/NewsArchivePages/Animal_Planet_REXANO.pdf

As suggested on the REXANO website, we as a community should be boycotting Animal Planet as well as the organizations that advertise with them. Write Animal Planet and the advertisers letting them know EXACTLY why you are boycotting them.
Something like...

Dear ________,

Animal Planet seems to be attacking the reptile and exotic animal industries in an extremely misleading and untruthful way. As a member of this community I am deeply saddened and offended by the gross mischaracterizations of mental illness and irresponsibility of the members of my community. No community or group of like-minded individuals are without their "black eye", but to insinuate and even downright state that the entire community is similar to the outliers is irresponsible and borders on libelous.

Therefore, I will not support Animal Planet by watching their programming or support the companies who advertise on Animal Planet until the programming is pulled, or at least becomes balanced and truthful. Should you decide to pull your commercials from these segments of their programming, or from Animal Planet altogether, please let me know so I may resume supporting your business.

Thank you,
____________

Thoughts?
jb
-----
What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

Animal Planet had such potential but it became pure crap so quickly Can we just get a David Attenborough Channel and call it good?
-----
We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

I know it's not a good time for these sort of programs to be playing.... but some of what they are showing is the truth.... there are a great deal of irresponsible owners keeping exotics out there..... People like us are probably the minority... a vast number of people dont take their hobby past the pet store... and never research anything or become a member of an online community......

And Animal Hording is a real problem.... How many times do you hear people on a forum talking about how broke they are one minute... then posting a thread about a new baby retic they just bought....

Now the programs about killer invasive Burmese pythons are way off base..... but some of what they are showing does have merit

They never said that all exotic animal owners had a mental ilness... they talked about people that obsessively buy more animals than they can finacially support, ANimal hording is when you wont pay your cable bill for 6 months so you can keep buying more reptiles......... That IMO shows some personality problems...
-----
Marc Duhon
Lafayette, Louisiana
SURINAMBOAS.COM
kaiyudsai@SURINAMBOAS.COM

No doubt there are irresponsible people out there, but there are also many knowledgeable and responsible keepers. But you do not hear about them often or at all since they are not newsworthy.
The fact is though, there is NO mention at all of responsible keepers in the program. What might that tell you about this show?

As for the hoarding aspect, just read this quote from the AP press release. Seems to be quite a broad generalization, don't you think?

"Many of the characteristics of animal hoarding appear to be present in many of the cases of dangerous, exotic animal ownership,"

I don't know about you, but this whole thing seems conspicuously one sided...

I think it comes down to what the public views as "hoarding." I own some 20 odd reptiles, and I wouldn't consider that hoarding. But if I owned 20 plus dogs, then yea, I might consider THAT hoarding. But again, my collection of colubrids and crested geckos is VASTLY different than a "collection" of 20 dogs. However, if they're just trying to feed in to the sensationalist nonsense, why go through and explain that husbandry/feeding requirements for our reptiles are different than that of dogs. I can keep 2 dozen snakes in much different quarters than 2 dozen dogs, but try explaining that to someone not familiar with the hobby. Especially when they don't WANT to be familiar with us...we are after all devil worshipping heathen morons.

EXACTLY! Very well said.

Programs like Fatal Attractions are all about trying to take away the credibility of the people represented. Why else would an organization that CLEARLY STATES it wants all exotic pet ownership & zoos gone as the "voice of reason" and people who openly oppose exotic pet ownership like Dave Salmoni as the "authority" ?

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.

Contact Us

There are several options for contacting Customer Service:

For questions, comments, problems or concerns with one of our products, please send an email to consumers@jakks.com. Please be sure to include your name, address, phone number and email address so we may contact you. If you are under 13 years of age, please have your parent contact us and provide this information.

You may contact us at — 1-877-875-2557 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-877-875-2557 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-877-875-2557 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-877-875-2557 end_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting (toll-free, North America only) or 1-909-594-7771 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-909-594-7771 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-909-594-7771 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-909-594-7771 end_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting x560 — Monday - Friday, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM Pacific Time (GMT – 8), excluding holidays.

You may write to us at:

JAKKS Pacific, Inc.
Consumer Relations
21749 Baker Parkway
Walnut, CA 91789

Please make sure you include your name, address, phone number and email address (if you have one) so we may contact you upon receipt of your letter.

(If you are under 13 years of age, please have your parent contact us and provide this information.)