Aspen Colorado Tortoises used for art

AZTorts

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Thanks for posting this. I signed and will post it to my FB page.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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Not only does it prevent them from properly absorbing UVB, but they have the stands SCREWED IN TO the shell! OW!
I signed!
Thank you for sharing :)
 

Turtlepete

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So many unanswered questions that need to be answered before everybody gets up in arms and starts boycotting them….

Whats the purpose of this? Just for an art exhibit? Did you ever think that a tortoise was picked to perhaps raise awareness of them in some way? I notice the article leaves all of this out.
They aren't screwed in, for one. Would not be possible. They are epoxied on, which in a small place will not hurt them. In fact, it epoxy is often used to secure a tortoises' shell back together….
And it will not stop them from absorbing UV. It blocks a very small portion of their overall shell. Still plenty enough carapace left to properly absorb UV.
"Endure the weight of two iPads!". Cry me a river, really. The stunning weight of 2 pounds for a sulcata that size is about how much weight it will gain from a big meal. Just the kind of writing to get people all riled up that animal-rightists like PETA thrive on.
How do you know the tortoises housing? They could be in that housing all day. They could be in it for an hour. It could be a huge, nicely planted, proper exhibit for the tortoises. Some of this would be perhaps cruel….Some of it, the animals are no worse off for it. Not in the least.
And, just for the sake of it, what is these tortoises' backgrounds? Where did they come from? Maybe they were rescues. Maybe they were on loan from a zoo. Maybe they were rescued and will be sent to a zoo afterwards….
ALL questions must be answered before everyone wants to get up and boycott them. I'm an animal lover, guys. I've worked with rescue animals since I was 6. I still rescue and adopt out dozens of animals yearly…..But this kind of stuff is just plainly ridiculous. Classic example of people getting angry without even the slightest bit of information, except for a close-cropped photo of a tortoise with two lightweight iPad's on its back…..

Sometimes including animals in things like this is a good thing (shocker, right?) Raising awareness, raising money for donations, etc.. Getting riled up and boycotting this over a close-cropped image that tells you not even half of the story….Accomplishes nothing.

Really, take a rational moment and ask yourselves if you should boycott horseback riding. Sticking shoes on an animal, penning a free roaming, free spirited animal, and riding on it's back. Put it in the right writing and boy, what animal exploitation is that? Or maybe, catching tortoises out of the wild to put them in our own living room habitats to look at?

The bottom line, get more information before signing a petition. Get the whole story. It could be animal cruelty, or it could be beneficial to the animals in some way.
 
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Redari

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Sorry if this has been posted before!

Their website says this is how they are mounted, but I still don't like it.

"The use of the iPad and its mounting method is a reduced version of the method employed by scientists and researchers who study the animals in the wild. The silicone material is noninvasive and removes easily and cleanly without damaging the tortoise’s shell."

http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcom...iticized-for-mounting-ipads-on-tortoises.html
 

Turtlepete

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" "Seriously? I need to explain why it's unethical to mount iPads on tortoises, drill screws through their shells, and stick them on the roof of a building? Animals are living creatures, not art supplies," wrote Marcia Ferrin of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. "

A perfect example of how our petitioner doesn't even have any idea what she's talking about. She has zero information pertaining to the tortoises. All she heard was "iPads on their backs". Suddenly, that turns into "crushing weight of two iPads", a.k.a the crushing weight of 2 pounds. Have you ever seen some of the trackers used to track chelonia in the wild? Depending on the size of the animal, some of it is pretty equivalent to what is being done here.

Even just a tiny bit of effort exerted looking for information, and here is what you find: the tortoises are rescues. Rescued from an over-crowded breeding facility. Afterwards, they will be moved to "educational facilities". Until then, they will wander around what looks to be a pretty nice enclosure, quite equivalent and in some ways better then most zoo exhibits.

Lets tally up what we know, guys:
  • The tortoises are rescues and will be moved to another appropriate facility at the end of the exhibit
  • The iPad's aren't screwed in. They are epoxied/siliconed/whatever'ed on. Doesn't hurt them
  • From the pictures, the habitat is equivalent to most zoo's.
  • iPads weigh about a pound each. There are two of them. Two pounds. Maybe three with the added weight of the mount. Not 100. Not crushing weight.
Now, look at that information, realize that they aren't screwed on, being crushed with enormous weight, kept in cruel habitats, and are in a better habitat now then they were before, and form a logical conclusion from it.
Do you still want to boycott them?

What really frustrates me is when people try to do everything right when using animals, do everything by the book, but the PETA-inspired, irrational animal rightists (not referring to any of you) still want to stake them for it. All the information I've seen shows no abuse what-so-ever towards the animal's.

Lastly, I want you to ask yourself this. The tortoises are being put in an art exhibit. What is art for? For people to enjoy.
Tell me how your living-room-tortoise-that-you-bought-to-enjoy is any different from that.
It's not.
How about your cat? If you bought a pure-bred cat/dog, why did you do that? To enjoy them? And in what way does that "exploitation" differ from what is going on here?
It doesn't.
 

Abdulla6169

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Um :confused:,
I just signed! I should read everything then act...
 

StarSapphire22

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I don't think it's abuse, and realize that they aren't being physically harmed...and I'm very very glad they have been rescued, and are receiving vet attention and homes later on...but something still just irks me about it. I guess I just see it as...degrading, I guess? There was a lot of different things this artist could have used, other than a living creature. It's one thing to purchase and keep an animal for viewing and enjoyment, but I would rather be enjoying the animal than using it as a glorified tv stand.

I don't think it deserves the outrage it's getting...but I don't really stand behind it either. It's not an exhibit I would pay to see and support.
 

wellington

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I'm on the fence. However, if it's too benefit tortoises then maybe it's a good thing. Besides, many animals have tracking devices places on them and are not able to be watch no,where near as close as these guys. The sea turtles are the first that come to mind. The location of these guys is probably not the best place for this too have been done, nor calling it art.
 

AmRoKo

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A lot of people don't take the time to understand tortoises or any reptile, I think this looks to be a non-harmful way to get people more interested in tortoises/reptiles, to learn more about them and enjoy them as much as we here at TF do. From the info I have read about this I just don't really see any cruelty going on, this seems to be just a creative way to see what the torts see.
 

Jim in Merced CA

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Heck, they're getting checked out by a vet how often? I've had my Sulcata for almost two years and he hasn't been the the vet once!

What if you used wide elastic and lightly strapped a GoPro camera onto the top of your tortoise's shell? Just for 24 hours - it would be fascinating to see life from his perspective.

Or am I in trouble now? :/
 

ascott

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Just silly idea of how to gather attention for their purpose...torts do not see to be harmed and it is correct in pointing out that the garbage that is adhered to Desert Tortoise in the name of "research" are much more invasive...I mean, a tortoise builds its burrow fit to size...and those transmitters are crazy large, especially in relation to the tortoise and that species burrow size...

I say let the torts earn their keep (as alot of working animals do) as they do not seem too bothered by it....I will say though, I would have wanted to see their reaction to the shadows casted from the pads when they first started off....I am sure the tort was not entirely stress free...
 

tinkerbell1189

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When I tried to read further into it I read that they had them on for several months... Surely that can't be true???

I don't agree with it at all, it must be stressful for the tortoise who all their life has been used to being a certain size, all of a sudden has iPads on it's back, I bet it's really confusing them when they try to burrow or fit through a gap. Also the shadows cast by the iPads would be stressful for them I would have thought.

But then I suppose a lot of what I said would depend on whether this was a longer term thing or just a temporary thing, and all the info I could find differed greatly and seemed inconclusive
 

tinkerbell1189

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That's a lot different. It's like you having something stuck on your head and feeling it, and seeing the shadow of it, but not knowing what it was, and no way of finding out either.
 

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