• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

I really should read my own blog.

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Fight them, without becoming them!

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

We still have time to mess this up!

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

We’re not going back!

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Faunasphere / Faunasphere: Thank you TripAdvisor! Edition

Faunasphere: Thank you TripAdvisor! Edition

by Hillary Rettig|  October 16, 20169:59 am| 22 Comments

This post is in: Faunasphere

FacebookTweetEmail

Some fantastic news, last week, from TripAdvisor:

TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site, today announced its commitment to launch a set of industry-leading actions, including changes to its policy on selling tickets to animal attractions, and the launch of a new education portal to help inform travelers about the standards of care for wild, captive, and endangered species in tourism and their interactions with tourists, and their impact on wildlife conservation.

TripAdvisor and its Viator brand will discontinue selling tickets for specific tourism experiences where travelers come into physical contact with captive wild animals or endangered species, including but not limited to elephant rides, petting tigers, and swim with dolphin attractions.

While some attractions will cease booking through TripAdvisor immediately, the company plans to have both the educational portal and booking policy changes fully-launched and implemented by early 2017.

TripAdvisor is also committing to the development and launch of an education portal linked to every animal attraction listing on TripAdvisor. The portal will provide links and information on animal welfare practices, helping travelers to write more informed reviews about their experience, and to be aware of opinions that exist on the conservation implications and benefits of some tourism attractions. In turn, TripAdvisor believes that better reviews will enable travelers to make more informed booking decisions and improve the standards of animal care in tourism worldwide….

This is truly wonderful news for at least three reasons:

1) Some of the cruel and callous “attractions” will probably go out of business. (Including, hopefully, the scammy Thai “tiger monastery.” ) This, in turn, will lead to…

2) Less animal trafficking, with all its attendant unspeakable ills (brutal kidnappings, families broken up, collateral deaths during shipping, etc.).

And last but definitely not least:

3) It’s a huge step in the ongoing mainstreaming of animal welfare concerns.

I use TripAdvisor a lot to plan our trips, but in the past have always done the actual booking on the hotel and attraction sites. From now on, I’ll book right on the TripAdvisor site so they get their commission, and if this news delights you as much as it delights me, I urge you to do the same.

ivan

Related: Katherine Applegate’s Newbery Medal-winning young adult novel The One and Only Ivan is a sensitive and compassionate fictionalization of the story of Ivan, a gorilla who was kept in the cage in a mall for nearly 30 years. It’s a bit early to think of holiday gift giving, but this would be a great one for any animal-loving kid or adult on your list.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Precious Memories
Next Post: Yesterday in American Sedition: (Not Actually Mentioned in the) Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers & Senators Too Edition »

Reader Interactions

22Comments

  1. 1.

    WereBear

    October 16, 2016 at 10:19 am

    This is good news. Shared with my own fans.

  2. 2.

    Hillary Rettig

    October 16, 2016 at 10:29 am

    @WereBear: :-) Big kitties, little kitties – we love them all!

  3. 3.

    ThresherK

    October 16, 2016 at 10:30 am

    From Moolissa’s lips to Trip Advisor’s ears.

  4. 4.

    Wapiti

    October 16, 2016 at 10:34 am

    I once went to that mall, in Tacoma, where Ivan was. I don’t remember if I saw him, but it was a weird mall.

  5. 5.

    Hillary Rettig

    October 16, 2016 at 10:37 am

    @ThresherK: Well *that* was a doorway into…something. :-)

  6. 6.

    Hillary Rettig

    October 16, 2016 at 10:38 am

    @Wapiti: Did you see other animals?

    Applegate really does a great job with the human characters, too, including the owner. He does cruel things (no spoilers) but is not portrayed as a monster.

  7. 7.

    ThresherK

    October 16, 2016 at 10:47 am

    @Hillary Rettig: C’mon, I can’t be the only Bob’s Burgers fan here.

    I don’t know of any other comedy which has had a piece about animal exploitation and mistreatment in such a deft manner: A would-be Michael Moore brings a cow, for a publicity stunt, next to a burger restaurant. The cow is left tied up overnight on a sidewalk in the rain by this fellow. Then it’s kidnapped by a couple who run a low-rent petting zoo. And the characters are a lot more fully rendered than in, say, South Park.

  8. 8.

    Wapiti

    October 16, 2016 at 10:58 am

    @Hillary Rettig: It was in 1986 or 87, I saw the cages, so there were animals, and I remember the circus theme, which was the odd/notable thing I remember. iirc, it was an old-school mall with various concessions in it, a keycutter maybe, shoe repair, that kind of thing. I needed a passport photo, and don’t like to shop, so I was there to get my picture taken at the photo shop and get out.

    eta: I see the mall closed in ~1994, so it might have already been on its last legs when I was there.

  9. 9.

    Hillary Rettig

    October 16, 2016 at 11:13 am

    @Wapiti: interesting to get a first-hand perspective – if you haven’t yet read the book I think you’d find it interesting.

  10. 10.

    Gertrude the Duck

    October 16, 2016 at 11:36 am

    @ThresherK: The Simpsons has two vegetarian characters (Lisa Simpson and Apu) and has done episodes about the issue. I haven’t watched the show in at least a decade, so no idea what is going on now.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    October 16, 2016 at 11:48 am

    Now how will the Trump children book their vacations?

  12. 12.

    WereBear

    October 16, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    It should come as no surprise to anyone that Steve King, defender of puppy mills, is a Republican. We vote for helping our non-human friends, too.

  13. 13.

    lollipopguild

    October 16, 2016 at 12:15 pm

    @Baud: I am sure that there are plenty of people who will take some trump coin to book the sons on a “how many animals can we kill” vacation/safari.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    October 16, 2016 at 12:18 pm

    @srv: I’m impressed by your ability to troll multiple topics. I appreciate people who put some effort into their art.

  15. 15.

    Hillary Rettig

    October 16, 2016 at 12:34 pm

    @Baud: another zing! for you!

  16. 16.

    Hillary Rettig

    October 16, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    @WereBear: Republicans in many states suck on animal issues. Like Missouri: https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Dog_Breeding_Regulation,_Proposition_B_(2010)

    And Christie famously vetoed anti-gestation-crate (for pigs) legislation as a suck up to agribusiness prior to running for pres. Fat lot of good it did him…

    Fortunately the tide is turning, and the more concerned with animal welfare/rights the populace gets – and there’s a lot of pro-animal sentiment among Republican voters, too – the better we are able to hang their agribusiness pandering like a millstone around the Repubs’ necks.

  17. 17.

    Brachiator

    October 16, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    @ThresherK:

    .lC’mon, I can’t be the only Bob’s Burgers fan here.

    Looked in once, but the show did nothing for me. However, the episode you describe sounds interesting.

  18. 18.

    Hillary Rettig

    October 16, 2016 at 12:42 pm

    @srv: This is fascinating and makes total sense given the increasing restrictions on the ivory trade. It’s too bad, because the mammoths (and science) deserve better than being made into trinkets. And like fake fur, it is better than the “real” alternative, but it also perpetuates the desire for the alternative.

    “Who will protect the dead?” is a great line, btw.

  19. 19.

    germy

    October 16, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    Someone went and killed Pedals the Bear. Remember the bear that walked on two legs like a human, possibly because of a front paw injury?

  20. 20.

    OldDave

    October 16, 2016 at 1:00 pm

    “The One and Only Ivan” is a wonderful read.

  21. 21.

    psychobroad

    October 16, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    I work at the public library, children’s dept. When we first got “The One and Only Ivan” we passed it around immediately. It’s a great book, so popular it’s almost never on the shelf–it stays checked out! Very doable read, too, if you have reluctant readers.

  22. 22.

    tmflibrarian

    October 16, 2016 at 6:47 pm

    When Ivan came to ZooAtlanta, he was afraid of grass, which is just heartbreaking. The Zoo’s newsletter used to provide updates on his adjustment to a much more natural environment, and while he eventually was able to enjoy being outside in the sun on a grassy hill, he never showed interest in mating, so there are no heirs like there are with their other famous silverback, WillieB.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • wjca on Monday Evening Open Thread: Another ‘Rich’ Narcissist, Having A Bad Start to His Week (Apr 16, 2024 @ 2:03am)
  • Princess on Monday Evening Open Thread: Another ‘Rich’ Narcissist, Having A Bad Start to His Week (Apr 16, 2024 @ 1:37am)
  • artem1s on Late Night Weekend Wrap-Up Open Thread: Journamalism, Not A Dependable Profit Center (Apr 16, 2024 @ 1:05am)
  • wjca on Monday Evening Open Thread: Another ‘Rich’ Narcissist, Having A Bad Start to His Week (Apr 16, 2024 @ 12:58am)
  • wjca on Monday Evening Open Thread: Another ‘Rich’ Narcissist, Having A Bad Start to His Week (Apr 16, 2024 @ 12:55am)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!