Cute and cool exotic animals!

With JDR's barbecue?
 
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Cute as hell :)

Also, preferable to people. We certainly have a few people around here that would be better suited for JDR's barbecue.
 
Awwww. I love most animals (with the exception of most humans). They make me happy. Yes, even spiders and gnats - they can be cute, too.
I guess all those 'cute animals' websites were made especially for me...
 
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This is so wrong. Cute animals are best observed via photographs in their natural habitats NOT 'humanized' in unnatural environments as pictured.
 
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I'll take animals over most people most any day of the week. Besides dogs and cats I tend to prefer to see them in their natural habitat though.
 
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I prefer when they live in their natural habitat as well, but as long as they being handled well i don't mind it too much. The Pacarana with the sign doesn't give me good vibes, probably used for profit.

Then there's the instances where a human has helped an injured or abandoned animal and kept it as a pet. If you cared to read about the above animals (e.g the bat) you'll get the history behind it.. The Porcupine above is also an animal which has problems (tooth infection - it only has 1 tooth left).. they could be left out in the wild again to die, but i think a life as a pet is preferable for them as long as they are taken good care of.

I've followed AnimalWonders Montana for years and they're great people from what i can tell, they are taking care of animals which otherwise would die or no one else wants or can take care of.
 
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I think we do some interesting mental gymnastics in our relationship to other animals.

For instance, most of us with cats and dogs are probably feeding them meat products, which are produced cheaply, from other creatures bred and slaughtered in miserable conditions.
 
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yes the simple/harsh truth is some animals are only breed and fed to be slaughtered, pets are not.

As someone who eats meat I have come to terms with it, not fully perhaps but kind of.. And of course i do hate when animals are being mistreated or are kept under horrible conditions. I never support anything other than Swedish meat, i don't buy halal meat.

I've been thinking about becoming a Vegetarian many times. When my mother is no longer with us i will give it a shot (cause i'd break her heart if i'd stop eating and praising her meatballs etc heh)
 
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The harsh truth (imho) is that many exotic animals such as lions are horribly abused in captivity. They are stolen from their natural habitat; used for profits and then when they are no longer profitable left to starve to death in their cages. Yes there are cases - esp for smaller common animals - where the weak or wounded are adopted as pets and yes they are frequently treated well but also (dependent on the animal) they are not domestic and they frequently do things that cause a great deal of distress for the owners and eventually leads to a bad ending. It is difficult to generalize here - a blue jay that falls out of the nest and adopted by kids to raise is not something I raise a voice against - this is very different than the example with lions or monkeys that then attack their owners and are put down. You list a few example that are mix - the Porcupine doesn't bother me because they are not what i consider exotic and are frequently fond living with or among humans (heck i saw a skunk last week when i was visiting my parents and frequently see the corpses of porcupine that make ill advised dashes across the road); but …

[My parents do not live in the boomdocks - they live in a well established suburban neighboorhood - there just happens to be a lot of skunk, porcupines, deers, foxes and other critters that like to wonder the area; my favorite is the very large owl that visit from time to time].

Anyway I promise to get off my high horses and drop the matter. Sorry for er interjecting on your thread.
 
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Some animals should absolutely not be kept as pets, i've read so many sad stories about for example monkeys or Chimpanzees kept as pets. I remember one woman who had one for years without any problems, they both had a great bond. Then one day a friend of this woman took some toy from the Chimpanzee(i believe it was), it went absolutely nuts, attacked and bit her face off. Horrible.

(i don't really mind OT stuff, i'm personally not very good at being 100% On Topic either)
 
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Yeah, it's unfortunate that our empathic response doesn't quite go beyond what's close to us or what we can actively perceive or imagine with sufficient detail - and that we're such creatures of comfort and habit.

That said, life would probably be pure torture if we actively empathised with all living beings at all times.

I've personally considered becoming a non-eat meater myself, several times. But I'm too weak and pathetic to accomplish it, at this point in time.

There are several minor obstacles in my way - such as family dinners and whatever - but that's trivial bullshit that can't compare to what it would mean to stop consciously contributing to the misery and slaughter of innocent creatures.

For my part, I'm reconciled that I'm failing to do what I know I should be doing - and there's nothing more to it.

Any excuse on my behalf would be a lie - and I don't do those.
 
I am mostly vegetarian and cook a lot of food for my dogs based on sustainably caught fish and some local farm food and lots of eggs from the farm down the street. Without the dogs I would probably be pure vegetarian with just a little dairy and eggs mixed in. But my whole family are heavy meat eaters and hunters. Yet even they hate what the food industry does to animals so I have seen even my diehard meat eating family members cutting back on meat and buying from local farms when they can, as well as hunting and fishing.

Outside of the food issue we are also killing off many animals homes and causing mass extinctions. I tend to have very little love for humans as a whole and how they are destroying the planet and the other life forms on it.

Luckily some do care and help out and they tend to be my modern day heroes - the real ones outside of games and stories.
 
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Yes, unfortunately humans ARE a mass-extinction event.
 
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That was NY; the woman was very wealthy as was her friend. I think vaguely the monkey saw the short straw there in the end. The woman was in the news later for getting a face transplant whatever that might be.

Some animals should absolutely not be kept as pets, i've read so many sad stories about for example monkeys or Chimpanzees kept as pets. I remember one woman who had one for years without any problems, they both had a great bond. Then one day a friend of this woman took some toy from the Chimpanzee(i believe it was), it went absolutely nuts, attacked and bit her face off. Horrible.

(i don't really mind OT stuff, i'm personally not very good at being 100% On Topic either)
 
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