Fatal Attractions on Animal Planet

I don't know if anybody else here has viewed this but it's really pissing me off. I've watched three episodes, all reptile related with an emphasis on snakes. All of them are portraying reptile owners as a bunch of freaks with emotional issues that can't fit in with society. The HSUS couldn't have done a better job.

Agreed. There are already a handful of threads on this subject if you want to review some other opinions.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...re-we-go-again!
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...nto-the-Toilet
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Animal-Planet
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Planet-station...

I've seen most of the episodes and the coverage could have been more fair. For example, they could have interviewed a "normal responsible" reptile owner and contrast that person's lifestyle and habits against their extreme example. I think if they made that comparison, then the focus would be more on the obsessive compulsive/hoarding behavior (which i believe should be the true intent) rather than the keeping of reptiles or any animals as being freaky, but you have to admit... free handling ANY venomous snake is indeed freaky. But it's a show... they have to portray the extreme scenarios in order to attract viewers and increase ratings.

I agree free handling venomous snakes is a bit on the freaky side as you put it. However, most venomous snake owners don't free handle their animals. It's flat out stupid - the equivalent of playing Russian roulette. They are trying to apply what a few idiots have done to the entire community which is just not fair. There's an agenda here. A recent episode tried to connect venomous snake ownership with gun ownership saying both are a need for power. Complete crap. I smell PETA/HSUS all over this.

i understand how its a little unfair about reptile owners but ALOT of the people on there did have mental problems.. i saw one were a guy spent every penny he owned on monitors (dont remember what kind) had no friends and kept to himself.. had like 13 (just a guess but an insane amount for sure) over 4 ft with free reign of his house and was eaten by them and no one knew for more than a week he was only found because of his smell which was almost drowned out by the smell of the monitors and the truth is people should be discouraged from doing that sort of thing..

bottom line is no matter what kind of animals you have whether captive bred or wild caught is still an animal.. love your snakes, lions, crocodiles whatever you have as much as you want but dont love them to the point it puts you, your family and friends in mortal danger.. most people follow that rule their entire lives with no problem.. but some people let that line between animal and human blur and it is a mental thing

that is NOT to say a pet cant be a family member but i am saying there is a line and when that line is crossed people get killed and politicians, news organizations, activist groups, and plain old every day nozey pricks use it for the sake of argument, political gain, or that "touchy on the edge story".. its actually sickening

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Originally Posted by Stubean15

i understand how its a little unfair about reptile owners but ALOT of the people on there did have mental problems.. i saw one were a guy spent every penny he owned on monitors (dont remember what kind) had no friends and kept to himself.. had like 13 (just a guess but an insane amount for sure) over 4 ft with free reign of his house and was eaten by them and no one knew for more than a week he was only found because of his smell which was almost drowned out by the smell of the monitors and the truth is people should be discouraged from doing that sort of thing..

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No one's questioning that the individuals usually have mental/emotional/social problems. But the show makes it seem like all reptile keepers behave this way and that is what's not fair. It's only spreading the misconceptions about responsible reptile keepers and that's what feeds anti-exotic pet laws and things like that.

I'm actually watching one as I type about a man who kept a Burm, just one, for fifteen years, and one night he got drunk and hit his head on the tank so that he was bleeding. He fell into the tank, the snake tried to eat him, he died. In the beginning of the show, the narrator said something like "We may never know what combination of loneliness, desire, and sadness would cause a person to keep the company of animals like these". I don't think there's a single Burm owner out there that wouldn't be offended by that statement.

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Originally Posted by SpartaDog

No one's questioning that the individuals usually have mental/emotional/social problems. But the show makes it seem like all reptile keepers behave this way and that is what's not fair. It's only spreading the misconceptions about responsible reptile keepers and that's what feeds anti-exotic pet laws and things like that.

I'm actually watching one as I type about a man who kept a Burm, just one, for fifteen years, and one night he got drunk and hit his head on the tank so that he was bleeding. He fell into the tank, the snake tried to eat him, he died. In the beginning of the show, the narrator said something like "We may never know what combination of loneliness, desire, and sadness would cause a person to keep the company of animals like these". I don't think there's a single Burm owner out there that wouldn't be offended by that statement.

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This is exactly what I'm talking about. It is very clear to me there is an alterior motive to this show and I don't like it one bit. I saw that same episode. The owner also didn't feed the animal enough and it was malnourished. His toxicology showed not only alcohol but cocaine as well. This is NOT the way most reptile keepers behave but this show is trying to make it out that we are all a bunch of anti-social freaks that can't fit into society.

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Originally Posted by Hypnotic Exotic

This is exactly what I'm talking about. It is very clear to me there is an alterior motive to this show and I don't like it one bit. I saw that same episode. The owner also didn't feed the animal enough and it was malnourished. His toxicology showed not only alcohol but cocaine as well. This is NOT the way most reptile keepers behave but this show is trying to make it out that we are all a bunch of anti-social freaks that can't fit into society.

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Exactly. They're focusing on the stereotypical snake keeper and not the well-educated, or even average snake keeper. They liken keeping a Burm as a pet to letting a 2000+ lb, known-to-be-aggressive American buffalo bull into your living room (and yes, that was another episode). They keep addressing the issue as an "adrenaline rush" they get from holding or owning snakes. I dunno about you, but I don't get an adrenaline high from handling my snakes...

as a note on that monitor ep. the monitors didnt kill him. he died from some other cause and they just started to eat him, because thats what monitors do, they eat dead animals

interestingly enough too, i jsut went to their site with the intent of letting them know how much this bull%$&^$ show offends me. they have all their shows listed except that one, so they must know/expect they are just flat out lying and expecting to get called out on it. hopefully i can find a phone number to call to lodge a complaint and ill post it up so others can chime in too

looks like this might be the number to call
240-662-2000

I refuse to watch this show just for the commercials itself. I rarely watch animal plantet anymore for the crap they put on.

i wasnt taking up for the show in any way lol i was just trying to say the worst part about it in my eyes is the fact they use someone elses tragedies to fill a time slot.. and the way they talk about deceased people.. they are so frank and distasteful in the way they talk about people who died awful horrible deaths

For anyone interested, I have submitted a couple of articles on this subject:

http://rexano.biz/Animal_TV.htm

http://www.kingsnake.com/blog/archiv...-Thoughts.html

One of the aspects about that TV program in particular that irritates me the most is how Animal Planet seems to be deliberately portraying/implying, whether directly or indirectly, how anyone who is fascinated by or interested in keeping, working with, or otherwise interacting with reptiles (and other exotic animals) is therefore inherently "destined to be on a dangerous and ill fated endeavor", and who is therefore somehow characterized or compelled by some abnormal psychological compulsion, condition, or motivation for them to do wish to do so.

The fact that personally irritates me even further is how hundreds of people are killed or severely mauled or injured by their cats, horses, dogs, or other domesticated species each year, and yet Animal Planet has yet to produce any series or program on how those individual's love and interest of such animals is an "ill fated endeavor from the start" and how these individuals must therefore possess some abnormal psychological drive to want to own those animals. I would be willing to safely assume, that if Animal Planet were to air such depictions of domesticated animal owners, that there would be a tremendous outrage from the "mainstream" animal and pet owners. They would likely view a program and the statements it implies about them as blatantly offensive, false, and disrespectful. They would likely feel lied about, misrepresented, and believe that there are ulterior motives behind Animal Planet airing such programs.

But yet Animal Planet apparently feels that it is perfectly acceptable to slander and misrepresent the reptile, and exotics community without consequence or accountability as a means to garner ratings and viewership? Sickening and sad.