#... you would need like an aquarium size tank for fish keeping to be ethical in the pokemon world AND THE WATER CHANGES YOU WOULD HAVE TO DO

[nothingbutalgae]

So like.. in the pokemon world, is it normal for the equivalent of pet shops (which I guess would just be pokemon supply shops?) To have huge tanks/ponds in stock or is it like normal pet stores where they have tiny ass tanks branded with pictures of fish you could definitely not keep in there on them? I want to see what a pokemon world pet store looks like plz

#oh dear god i was typing this and i just realized the absolute nightmare implications of this stuff #DO THEY SELL POKEMON AT PET STORES #ARE THERE THE EQUIVALENT OF PUPPY MILLS AND CHAIN BREEDERS??? #this is a nightmare #plz #i wss just thinking about how cute goldeens would look if they looked more like oranda goldfish but then was thinking about their size and #i work at a pet store and its already a nightmare with fish and convincing people not to do stupid shit i cannot imagine taking a... #very large fish that is the size of many standard tanks #this is horrible why would my brain do this #... you would need like an aquarium size tank for fish keeping to be ethical in the pokemon world AND THE WATER CHANGES YOU WOULD HAVE TO DO #DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THAT WOULD BE?? HOW TF DO REGULAR PEOPLE AFFORD THAT FOR THEIR FISH POKEMON #dear god. it has to be like our world where a large amount of the population doesnt think of fish as animals/take decent care of them #please please for the love of all that is good tell me you cant sell pokemon at pet stores (except maybe joltiks or small bugs?) #and i only say small bugs bc i know a lot of tartanula keepers that love their little guys so much #but also. again. the average person. #i hate my brain why #anyway i want to draw some cute little pokemon terrariums goodbye #pokemon

[peacefulpeaks]

Part 7: Zoos, Food & Oceans

Zoos

a. What role, if any, should zoos play in conservation/education?

I believe that zoos that help to converse a species or to house orphaned animals are very important. I believe zoos should do more in the way of education, with more zookeepers talking to the public and better signage on animals. Zoos are a difficult conversation for me because I hate seeing animals exhibit stereotypic behaviour or have shorter life expectancies in captivity, but going to zoos makes me really happy because of my love for animals. Seeing animals I wouldn’t see unless I travelled into the jungle or might never see at all, it makes me really happy. So while I understand that zoos can be harmful to some animals, and some zoos are harmful to all of their animals, I’m quite selfish and want them to stick around for me.

Me at the Berlin Zoo in March 2017.

b. Is it ethical to keep animals in zoos? If so, what size/type of animal or zoo?

I do think it is ethical to keep animals in zoos if they are being treated with respect and care. Zoos should be big enough to accommodate for all of the animal’s needs, and if they can’t they should not be allowed to house them. I am very much against aquariums like Sea World because the tanks are not big enough and the animals are also trained to perform which I don’t agree with. The animals kept in a zoo should be treated as animals, not performers.

Sea Lions at the Berlin Zoo 2017.

c. Do you enjoy visiting zoos?

I very much enjoy visiting zoos. I have been to the Winnipeg zoo many times, as well as the zoos in Edmonton, Alberta; Phoenix, Arizona; Berlin, Germany; Arnhem, Holland as well as the zoo in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Usually at least once a year my mom and I make a day trip of going to the zoo together to spend time together and I’ve had some of my best childhood memories at the zoo.

Penguin at the Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem, Holland 2017.

Food

Consider your food system:

a. What do you like about it?

I like the food we eat. My mom makes dinner in our house and she always tries to make meat, a carb, and a vegetable, which is a good variety. Overall, we eat a healthy diet. We tend to eat food that isn’t ridiculously expensive, we don’t eat organic foods. 

b. What do you dislike about it? Consider taste, nutrition, cost, equity, and environmental issues.

In the winter we only have bananas and apples in the house because most other fruits don’t taste as good during the winter or they’re more expensive so I wish we were able to have more of a variety of fruit in the winter time. I know that we waste quite a bit of food in this house because we aren’t able to eat it all before it goes bad which always makes me feel guilty. And it would be nice to grow some food in our backyard but the rabbits eat everything before it ever grows so we just plant flowers.

Wild strawberries from Manitoba!

Oceans

a. What are your primary concerns about the oceans?

The pollution of trash and oil in the ocean is very concerning to me. I see photos on social media often of garbage floating or animals that died because they ate too much garbage, and it makes me really worried and sad. I worry that our oceans are too hot and we will experience terrible floods. I’m concerned that our overfishing will wipe out all of the fish before my grandkids or great grandkids can try sushi. I’m concerned that by the time I make it to Australia and go snorkelling that there won’t be much to see and that the coral reef will just be sad and colourless.

Fish exhibit at the Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem, Holland 2017.

b. What, if anything, do you plan to do about it?

Everyone in our house cuts our plastic six-pack rings before throwing them in the garbage to ensure that no animals, including ocean life if it ever made it there, wouldn’t get stuck inside of them. I also try to be mindful of how much sushi and other fish I am consuming. A lot of issues, like the state of our oceans, feel so large and impossible to combat, being just one person. I know there are things we can do to make small steps but knowing large corporations, who make most of the pollution, will continue to pollute for profit, makes it easier to ignore.