I'm not much of a believer in online petitions, boycotting etc. However I think this could be an opportunity to potentially make a real difference. Seems this part of the animal planet website is currently open to people giving their opinions on the "controversy" of keeping this show on their network. Course it could just be a publicity stunt, given the show just started its second season, but at the same time it might be the closest we can get to giving input that people involved with the channel might actually read.
Weigh in on Rattlesnake Republic: Rattlesnake Republic: Animal Planet
Regardless of your particular feelings on whether all rattlesnake roundups are bad or not, I think everyone can agree a show glorifying the mass slaughter of wild animals for profit has no place on a channel that is supposed to support animals. It did my heart good to see that all 170 + comments so far have been against the show.
I apologize if this is the wrong place to put this topic. Be gentle with me.
<><><>
My own comment reads as this:
I grew up watching documentaries on snakes and other reptiles. Often times there was some sensationalizing going on, music and narration that made the situations more frightening or cruel than they were, but this was acceptable as the overall message remained positive and in support of the animals it was covering.
One thing these shows had in common was their treatment of rattlesnake round-ups. They did cover the various justifications for the practice, but the overall message was always that they were not truly regulated and did not serve the purposes they claimed to serve.
Above all those programs taught me the utter pointlessness and cruelty of the slaughter that occurs in the roundups. Hundreds, even thousands of snakes removed from habitats far from where they would ever bother humans, brain-damaged by toxic gasoline fumes, denied food, water, proper temperatures for great lengths of time, handled improperly, ultimately slaughtered, I could go on forever.
So the mere existence of this show on Animal Planet came as a shock to me, let alone it being renewed for another season. I don't see the point of boycotting the network or its funders as I doubt it would do anything and there are still good programs, but I do think those involved in deciding that shows like this air take a look back at those old documentaries and ask themselves if there isn't a less harmful way to get ratings, a way that doesn't run counter to everything the network stands for.
Heck, "Monsters Inside Me" is a good example of a show that manages to be educational and sensational at the same time.
Threaded Mode