Tired of Animal Planet?

mongoose5971 · #1 (**permalink**) 03-11-2010, 06:09 PM

I am. I just saw the trailor for that new show, "Killer Aliens." I love how the TRAILOR included the story of the trailor park family that left their burmese python in a completely unsecure glass tank and supposedly "strangled their baby." WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH INVASIVE WILDLIFE??? Anyway, I just went to their website and sent them a short letter expressing my views about their "killer" shows, misinformation, and otherwise negative light shed on all exotic animal ownership. I also threw in a bit about the number of HSUS commercials that air on their network and questioned their influence on their programming. I think this could be an important player in our fight against anti-reptile legislation. I didn't even mention reptiles, just exotics in general, and added that there are more of us than the general public thinks--because the only time people hear about it is when something bad happens. So I'm asking if a few of you could take a few minutes and send a similar letter. Let's make them realize that there are a lot more of us than the general public thinks and that we do not appreciate all the negative publicity they are giving our hobby. I asked if they could maybe air a show that shows our hobby in some sort of a positive light--anything other than being "killers." Thanks everyone! I'm trying to everything I can to fight...
This was the only place I could find to send comments, I selected "Untamed and Uncut" from the drop-down menu. If you can find a better place, let me know.
http://extweb.discovery.com/viewerrelations

TammyJamaica · #2 (**permalink**) 03-11-2010, 06:38 PM

I agree with you aboput all the negative and exaggerated media you are getting over there. We are getting it here in Jamaica now too! Such a pile of total misinformation, it is so very destructive and sickening.

I hope others will respond to your post and come in to the fight against the ban.

Is it on Animal Planet that there is this new show now which is starting on Sunday called "Fatal Attraction"? I have an idea that may not bode too well for us either! Will be watching. I guess the whole thing with the the Killer Whale "attack" triggered that one off. And I saw a preview of it with Larry King, I think it was in which the brother of the woman who was mauled by Travis the Chimp, spoke about it.

We definitely need to have both sides of these strories, and then we need to also have the third side - the correct one!!!

mongoose5971 · #3 (**permalink**) 03-11-2010, 06:44 PM

Yes that was the other one I meant to mention, T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E...I mean it's like completely against exotic pet ownership. When will they show the public it's not all bad?? I just want them to see that there are a lot of us out there. Tell them how you used to to love AP, but now don't even watch it. (The only AP shows I watch anymore are the dog-related shows, the rest is complete crap.)

Sakara · #4 (**permalink**) 03-11-2010, 06:45 PM

I sent them one the other day and the show I chose was "Other"

guess what I got back.... A generic, thank you for your concern, we will be sure to take all your concerns into consideration...

in short, "screw you we don't care...."

TammyJamaica · #5 (**permalink**) 03-11-2010, 06:52 PM

Yes, that channel has gone way downhill over the last few years. They are doing a lot of damage and sending some very mixed up, uninformed messages to people and especially to kids, who need to learn to preserve our planet and its wildlife in a sensible way, and not be brainwashed by ignoramuses.

Check this one out: Madman of the Sea. It's some kind of comedy that's just not funny.

Nat Geo has better stuff - most of the time! Not always.

Oroborous · #6 (**permalink**) 03-11-2010, 07:13 PM

I'm glad I don't have cable....

wrfuess · #7 (**permalink**) 03-11-2010, 07:19 PM

there may be some good programing coming our way. in december i was in amsterdam. one of the few channels that was in english was the animal planet. they have a show that i now cant recall the name of, but it was a program just about snakes. im hoping it will come to america, because it looked like it was going to be real good

Snakemaster · #8 (**permalink**) 03-12-2010, 12:03 AM

Check out this facebook page
Login | Facebook
all about the animal planet boycott.

amercnwmn · #9 (**permalink**) 03-12-2010, 12:19 AM

Yep, we have a FB page created by Mitch Brynes (Diamond Reptile Breeders) & myself if you would like to join, please look us up: Boycott Animal Planet & Other Programs Using Scare Tactics

There is also a thread on this site with contact info.
We are asking EVERYONE with a passion for reptiles to get involved and ask AP and other programmers to focus on stories that do not fuel the fear fire. We need more understanding from the public.

Oxford Scientific Films chawkins@oxfordscientificfilms.tv
Erin wanner, animal planet ErinWanner@discovery.com

If you prefer to send letters:

7700 Wisconsin Ave.
Bethesda MD 20814

Although, an interesting tidbit you may not know about:
Fred Kaufman is the series Executive Producer. He serves on the advisory board of The Humane Society of the United States Hollywood Division.

mongoose5971 · #10 (**permalink**) 03-12-2010, 12:42 AM

Nice. Well I just figure if we all take 5 minutes out of our day and they get flooded with these e-mails, maybe they will start to notice? It's worth a shot anyway. It's junk like this in the mass media that misinforms people into believing our hobby truly is dangerous.

amercnwmn · #11 (**permalink**) 03-12-2010, 12:49 AM

Could have a LOT to do with the HSUS involvement as well.

mongoose5971 · #12 (**permalink**) 03-12-2010, 12:53 AM

Srsly.

TammyJamaica · #13 (**permalink**) 03-12-2010, 05:42 PM

"Conflicts of Interest" seem to be alive and well on Planet Earth.

I note a comment from one of us here on this thread - "I am glad I don't have cable". Well, it has its advantages and disadvantages for sure! There is still a lot to learn and enjoy if you know what to look for - sometimes the information and the experiences are very good.

I definitely would feel queasy and uneasy watching something that is "programmed and manipulated" by someone in power, with a sinister and self-serving agenda.

amercnwmn · #14 (**permalink**) 03-12-2010, 10:35 PM

There are still some good programs on AP, but it seems they've garnered more of a "Why exotics shouldn't be kept as pets" stance and have been using shows like "I was bitten" etc to promote the fear to keep people from wanting to learn more about these animals.

TammyJamaica · #15 (**permalink**) 03-16-2010, 10:27 PM

Well, I saw "Killer Aliens" and "Fatal Attraction" and I don't know which was worse. The language they used, and the dire, dramatic and foreboding tone with which it was narrated, like some horror story of murder and mayhem from "Forensic Files". Not sure if it was not the same narrator!!!

Disastrous and damaging, misleading productions for all exotics owners/breeders.

Suddenly here in Jamaica, we snake/iguana owners are also under threat of having our pets taken from us, after having bought them innocently from pet shops over the years, we are now hearing that the pet shops did not have permits and so our pets are illegal!!! We are going to fight them and have to get our own lawyer to try and stop it. All this has come about because an illegally imported monkey from South America bit a child here.

wrfuess · #16 (**permalink**) 03-16-2010, 11:19 PM

i saw killer aliens and fatal attraction aswell. it was bad
a few things id like to point out.

in killer aliens they talk about how large and harmul the burm is. then they cut to video of a baby jungle carpet python in a tree.

later in the show they have a snake catcher guy who is big and buff. he is catching a burm that is about 8 feet long. then the narrator starts talking about how this big dangerous burm will crush the life out of him or possibly eat him.

and i had a question about fatal attraction.
they guy who got "killed" by his monitors. all the monitors they showed were little savs and the occasional baby nile monitor. i dont understand how someone can br brought down and killed by little monitors.

spix14 · #17 (**permalink**) 03-16-2010, 11:58 PM

Watched both and was thoroughly disgusted.

I was especially offended by the one lady that seemed to think anyone who owned reptiles or exotics was, in a nutshell, an insecure crazy person who identified themselves through their animals. For some unknown reason, she seemed to think the fact that most of us tend to be well educated about our animals, far moreso than your average dog or cat owner, made us obsessive.

Well pardon me, I guess I'm a nut case just because I know the latin name of the pet I have the responsibility of caring for. Heaven forbid I read a book! Then she whips right around and contradicted herself by saying that another person got killed because they didn't know anything about the animals they were keeping.

YOU CAN'T have it both ways you infuriating woman!

A couple of my friends were over watching it with me and we had a good laugh over it, but it still ticked me off. Both shows were so incredibly biased and fimled in such a ridiculous over the top way it made my jaw drop. AP has been annoying me for a while, this was the last straw. I won't be watching that channel anymore.

Steve Irwin would be livid.

nitram · #18 (**permalink**) 03-17-2010, 01:53 AM

Ugh..my bf and I just recently saw these two shows as well. it's a load of caca. big stinky biohazard caca. they would say things like "it's a danger because of the variation of snakes". and i'd be like. THAT DOESN'T SAY ANYTHING. just because there's a variation? what the...? *smh* a lot of words that add up to nothing, if you ask me. and then media slants on top of it, where the stories are concerned. my favorite had to be the one where the guy tackles the big burmese and wonders why it's trying to snap at him? well duh. you sartled it. la-hame.

Sakara · #19 (**permalink**) 03-17-2010, 03:33 AM

I didn't watch either... I'm sure I'll happen to catch them sometime...

The only info I know... is that the monitor guy... he was killed by a pet komodo dragon.... As far as what the news report/Jay Leno thing said... Prolly not a full sized komodo by any means or there wouldn't have been anything left... But yea... It wasn't your common sav or nile...

nitram · #20 (**permalink**) 03-17-2010, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sakara

I didn't watch either... I'm sure I'll happen to catch them sometime...

The only info I know... is that the monitor guy... he was killed by a pet komodo dragon.... As far as what the news report/Jay Leno thing said... Prolly not a full sized komodo by any means or there wouldn't have been anything left... But yea... It wasn't your common sav or nile...

he had so many reptiles and crap lying around. they were just guessing as to which thinger it really was that killed him, but they thought they had a good idea. and they were "inconclusive" as to the main cause of death, but tried to spin it like it was his animals that killed him. he was a moe-ron though. he just let them wander around with no real cages. he probably keeled over and they got hungry enough to start picking away at him. but again. inconclusive. it was all just propaganda to get good rating, because they know that they could never be like discovery channel.

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