It's Not Just Savannahs...

[WitchyWoman]

Just shoot me now. I googled AR and there is a similarity between their varying philosophies and mine. Ewwwwwwwww. We need to add a barfing smilie. Let me preface this by confessing that I'm on my 2nd glass of a splendid 2006 Falchino so there may be a few typees, grammatical tics, and outright falsehoods in what follows. LOL.

I have spent time with captive bred exotics, mostly big cats. Had the best time of my life rolling around with a few smallish puddy cats and have even had the pleasure of cavorting with a few tigers and a lion big as a Mack truck who was suspected to be an allegedly extinct Barbary lion or at least a genetic descendant thereof. Most were purchased as "pets" from exotic breeders/traders and surrendered when they became an inconvenience. Others were retired animals used in films and commercials. And a few more were residents of animal parks taught tricks to amuse us. These are the animals who started to solidify changes that were already occurring in my point of view.

I could stay on this soapbox for-Evah but brevity is probably best -- The exotic trade is to me a symptom of a larger issue that is the true thorn in my britches -- We subjugate everything. When we do so, we confer abject disrespect. The absence of wildness that you referred to makes my point better than I could. Who do we serve by breeding the wild out of these animals?

 

[Pam Flachs]

Deb- it's not an offensive opinion, but in my eyes, it is a very contrary one coming from a Savannah owner (or enthusiast, etc). I see this a lot in the Savannah/Bengal community and I seriously have issues wrapping my mind around it.

Let me explain... So why is an African Serval an okay forebearer to our Savannahs (say for those with lower gen cats) then? Since we all know the Serval is in our animals' bloodlines somewhere and obviously, it is much closer to our cats in our homes then to our alley cats (like my oldies who are DSHs- they have an exotic heritage somewhere, but what? They're probably F2000s- LOL- sound like an exotic car, right?)

I get very upset about all of this, myself, because I think due to our ability to turn a blind eye to other's issues with exotic bans- we open up the doors to hybrid bans and breed specific legislation. For example- if I have no issue with kangaroos being banned in a county- then I should have no issues with lions or tigers being banned. No biggie, right? Makes sense. YET- usually when they slip in an exotic ban, they also toss in the smaller exotics- the Servals, the Lynxes, the Bobcats. Well, no biggie- I don't think exotics should be kept as pets (and in this case- the Roo was an exotic- not a wild animal. He was born in captivity if I understand correctly- and yes, there are a lot of Roo/Wallaby owners throughout this country). Well, then sometimes, they slip in the hybrids with those exotic bans too.

Even if they DON'T- permitting laws like this to pass while turning a blind eye simply gives the government an easier time eventually banning OUR cats.

Hope that makes sense Really- the political climate towards exotic pets makes me very very sick. We wouldn't have Savannahs without very dedicated, caring Serval owners! We wouldn't have Serval owners without dedicated, caring exotic breeders.

Very well put, Trish. I guess I have a hard time understanding those who want or already own a Savannah, Bengal, or other hybrid cat, yet denigrate breeders and the use of Servals or other cats used to create their pets....if they had wanted just a spotted cat, there are other cats (Ocicat, Egyptian Mau) with no "wild" heritage they could have chosen instead....the fact is they fell in love with the unique looks and personality of the Savannah just like we breeders did, and the Savannah would not have been possible without the Serval. There is also the mistaken belief that baby servals are rounded up and taken from their mothers straight from Africa; the Servals used in breeding programs today and as pets are born and raised right here on this continent....

 

[Trish Allearz]

Just shoot me now. I googled AR and there is a similarity between their varying philosophies and mine. Ewwwwwwwww. We need to add a barfing smilie. Let me preface this by confessing that I'm on my 2nd glass of a splendid 2006 Falchino so there may be a few typees, grammatical tics, and outright falsehoods in what follows. LOL.

I have spent time with captive bred exotics, mostly big cats. Had the best time of my life rolling around with a few smallish puddy cats and have even had the pleasure of cavorting with a few tigers and a lion big as a Mack truck who was suspected to be an allegedly extinct Barbary lion or at least a genetic descendant thereof. Most were purchased as "pets" from exotic breeders/traders and surrendered when they became an inconvenience. Others were retired animals used in films and commercials. And a few more were residents of animal parks taught tricks to amuse us. These are the animals who started to solidify changes that were already occurring in my point of view.

I could stay on this soapbox for-Evah but brevity is probably best -- The exotic trade is to me a symptom of a larger issue that is the true thorn in my britches -- We subjugate everything. When we do so, we confer abject disrespect. The absence of wildness that you referred to makes my point better than I could. Who do we serve by breeding the wild out of these animals?

I guess it depends on what you consider 'wild'. I consider the term 'wild' to mean unpredictable and dangerous. If you work around a certain type of animal enough- you learn to read them and work with them and they lose the unpredictable factor. Dangerous is all somatics too

 

[Per Lausund]

Beware of AR people slipping in bans on this and that. They are systematically banning everything that doesn´t meet general approval, the animals that only special groups care about, and extending it to include every pet and domestic animal you can think of, including sheep and cattle...

 

[admin]

That is so true, Per...and disguise their campaigns with rhetoric and propaganda. But when you read their material, if you are uninformed or already have a certain POV, you fall hook, line and sinker. I would rather donate my money elsewhere to care for animals.