Finish with a Smile!

4/10/2015

It's been a long hard week for me, so I need to just finish it up with a smile and a feel good minute. With that, here's your smile for the day,

Lauren link

4/10/2015 02:40:15 am

Love that commercial :)

Calm, Forward, Straight link

4/10/2015 10:10:29 am

Favorite commercial EVER!
Have a great weekend :D

Nicole link

4/10/2015 12:22:07 pm

Okay, I'm going to step in and be the party pooper here because this is one issue I am very passionate about -- wild animals staying wild. This commercial is made with a lot of really adorable animal pairs that are appropriate -- dog and cat, dog and chick, etc. But the title pair, and several other pairs in the video (orangutan and dog, elephant and anything, baby rhino and anything, lion and tiger?!) are not appropriate. First of all, why are a lion and a tiger even together like that? No way they're in a sanctuary for abused animals, lions and tigers don't even live on the same continents any longer. No zoo or reputable sanctuary is not raising those animals together. The dog and the orangutan are a well known example of an animal that is not being raised in an appropriate or species specific way -- why does that orangutan live where it can play with a dog, instead of with other orangs in a sanctuary or, better yet, in the forest?

So adorable as it is, I can't love this commercial, because it supports practices that don't benefit the animals in the long run.

Calm, Forward, Straight link

4/11/2015 12:49:17 am

Can't address the origin of the other animal pairs in this commercial, but this is the story of the orangutan and hound pair. There's a great National Geographic special about them...

"They met four years ago when Roscoe followed staff from The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS) in Myrtle Beach as they walked home.

He was immediately spotted by the orangutan, who ambled over to make friends.

Dr Bhagavan Antle, the reserve's founder, said: 'Roscoe looked really thin and a little lost so we fed him and took care of him.

'He followed us through the gate and ran over and found Suryia. As soon as he saw Roscoe, Suryia ran over to him and they started playing.

'Dogs are usually scared of primates, but they took to each other straight away. We made a few calls to see if he belonged to anyone and when no one came forward, Roscoe ended up staying.'

Nicole

4/11/2015 04:45:21 pm

While I completely agree that Roscoe lives a better life at TIGERS than he otherwise would being privately owned, there are many issues associated with any primate being kept in this type of setting (that setting being loose with people and dogs). To list a few, Roscoe could easily kill that dog or a person accidentally through play, even at the size he is in the commercial but certainly at his current size (we are several years down the line from this footage). Roscoe's psychological development will be hampered by interacting more with people and dogs than with other orangutans (which, while not a social species, do better in groups than alone), as studies on many human-raised apes have shown us, they often consider themselves more human than ape. Unfortunately, no ape can live a semi-human life forever and eventually they have to be confined to specialty housing (for the safety of people and the apes alike), and then what for Roscoe, who is used to gambolling about the lawn with his doggy friends and people? Typically: solitude and depression. I'm simplifying a very complex issue because that's not what this blog is about, but just because something is called a sanctuary does not necessarily make it ethical -- in the equine or exotics world. (Though to be fair, nor does it vilify it.)

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