Written by PETA
The good folks over at Animal Makers are up to their old tricks. By "tricks," we mean creating amazingly lifelike animatronic models that stand in for real animals in movies and advertisements. Oh, and now we can add that they stand in for real dolphins in "swim with" therapy programs.
We're generally not fans of anything to do with swimming with dolphins (unless it involves a boat and scuba gear out in the middle of the ocean). That's because hotels and aquariums that offer people the chance to "swim" with dolphins really mean that you get to sit with a dolphin in a swimming pool—a pool that is essentially the equivalent of a bathtub to an animal who would naturally swim dozens of miles a day. In addition to the criminal lack of exercise and mental stimulation, captive dolphins are suspected of being driven mad by the sound of their sonar, which constantly bounces off the tank walls.
But thanks to Animal Makers, kids with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, and other developmental disorders will get a chance to interact with "TADs" (therapeutic animatronic dolphins) that move and even make squeaky dolphin noises at a new facility that is being built in Florida.
Kids get to play with really cool life-like robots, dolphins get a break. It doesn't get any better than that.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Deflocked, baby. Deflocked.
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Rawr!
Remember what Pam Anderson said a few months ago about the whole Uggs craze?
"I feel so guilty for that craze being started around Baywatch days - I used to wear them with my red swimsuit to keep warm - never realizing that they were SKIN! Do NOT buy UGGs! Buy Stella McCartney or Juicy boots - I'm looking for alternatives myself for my boys and the men in my life! I'm designing some right now for my family and will try and have some available on my Web site soon."
Well, Pam dug the original Uggs out of her closet and offered them to us to help draw attention to the cruelty involved in the Australian wool industry (Uggs are made of Australian sheep skins), and this is where you come in. We want to hear your best ideas on how to use them to bring attention to this important issue. Feel free to post your ideas as comments or send them to me directly. We’ll announce the best idea on the blog in couple of weeks.
Here are a couple of my own ideas to get you started, though admittedly these aren’t the most exciting.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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