I wasn't going to post anything on this, but as the thread is going on and on and on, I decided to put my 2 cents in.
I have only watch 4 or 5 of the "Crocodile Hunter" shows. I have never been a big TV watcher. I'd like to share what I saw.
There was a show after the uproar about Steve and his baby son with the croc. The original footage was shown, and yes it did look like maybe Steve had his son a little too close to the croc. Then, they showed the same event with a camera that was shooting from a different angle. If I remember correctly, not only did Steve have a firm hold on his son, his son was behind the railing of the platform they were standing on. I'm not saying what Steve did was a good thing. But, he did seem to have things under control. Now, compare this with what Michael Jackson did with this child. Hanging it over the railing of his balcony while holding onto his foot. That was totally uncalled for craziness in my opinion.
There was another show where Steve was at a bushman village where the bushman wanted to locate and kill a crocodile that had been terrorizing their village. Somehow Steve had found out about it and offered his services to locate it and move it to a different location instead of killing it. The villagemen agreed and even offered to help him. As the show went along, Steve wanted the bushmen to understand that killing the crocodile was not necessary. Transporting it to another area where it would no longer be a problem would benefit both the people and the croc. Also, during the trapping of the croc, he repeatedly was sayijng how dangerous this type of thing was. He knew it was dangerous and was making a point of letting the audience know it was a dangerous thing to do. The type of thing like "Please don't do try this on your own." And, yes, he had to tie and tape this crocodile in order to relocate it. I don't thing asking it to jump into the boat to be relocated would have worked. I am an animal lover to a very high degree. I abhor animal cruelty and abuse. Just like I abhor child abuse, and any other type of abuse. I did not see this as an abuse. The things done were necessary to saving the crocodile's life. Yes, it was prodded and poked, but not in a cruel manner. I have owned horses in the past, now own 5 dogs, 2 parrots, chickens, a tame cat and feed wild cats that come onto my property. I have had to keep the horses in a pen so they won't run away and be hurt. I had to use a bridle and saddle to ride them, prodded them with my legs to make them go and go in the direction I wanted them to go. My birds are in big caes so they don't fly away and get eaten by the coyotes. My dogs live behind a fence for the same reason, so they won't get loose and be killed. I use a leash on them when we go for walks for the same reason. I do not see this as cruel. It is something that has to be done in this day and age. If you want to see cruel, take a look at what is being done to animals that are being used by scientists to test anything from cosmetics to poison to genetic manipulations.
Another show of Steve's I saw was of him and his wife saving animals from a devastating fire. They were running into the flames to get any animals they could see and catch to save them from being killed. And other people that worked with him were in various other places of the fire doing the same thing.
And as was mentioned, he has done so much for conservation and wildlife, getting people to understand that the destruction of the planet and its wildlife will be a detriment to us all.
Was all of this that Steve has done all for show? I can't say because I didn't personnally know him. But, I have not seen anything that would make me believe this. I'm sure he wanted his show to be successful as would anyone in his position. But, what I saw Steve do the few times I watched him was saving animals. Keeping them from being killed. Yes, he loved retiles. Somebody has to. I am not a big proponet of retiles. But they are 2D entities. Not 4D entities. They neither know about STO and STS nor do they care. They are not in league with the lizzies anymore that any other animal that can be used by them.
I am neither for nor against Steve Irwin. I just am stating what I saw and how I perceived it. As Laura said in her post, don't judge the man until you've walked a couple days in this moccasins (I'm going by memory here).
But, this is just my opinion.
Lynne
I have only watch 4 or 5 of the "Crocodile Hunter" shows. I have never been a big TV watcher. I'd like to share what I saw.
There was a show after the uproar about Steve and his baby son with the croc. The original footage was shown, and yes it did look like maybe Steve had his son a little too close to the croc. Then, they showed the same event with a camera that was shooting from a different angle. If I remember correctly, not only did Steve have a firm hold on his son, his son was behind the railing of the platform they were standing on. I'm not saying what Steve did was a good thing. But, he did seem to have things under control. Now, compare this with what Michael Jackson did with this child. Hanging it over the railing of his balcony while holding onto his foot. That was totally uncalled for craziness in my opinion.
There was another show where Steve was at a bushman village where the bushman wanted to locate and kill a crocodile that had been terrorizing their village. Somehow Steve had found out about it and offered his services to locate it and move it to a different location instead of killing it. The villagemen agreed and even offered to help him. As the show went along, Steve wanted the bushmen to understand that killing the crocodile was not necessary. Transporting it to another area where it would no longer be a problem would benefit both the people and the croc. Also, during the trapping of the croc, he repeatedly was sayijng how dangerous this type of thing was. He knew it was dangerous and was making a point of letting the audience know it was a dangerous thing to do. The type of thing like "Please don't do try this on your own." And, yes, he had to tie and tape this crocodile in order to relocate it. I don't thing asking it to jump into the boat to be relocated would have worked. I am an animal lover to a very high degree. I abhor animal cruelty and abuse. Just like I abhor child abuse, and any other type of abuse. I did not see this as an abuse. The things done were necessary to saving the crocodile's life. Yes, it was prodded and poked, but not in a cruel manner. I have owned horses in the past, now own 5 dogs, 2 parrots, chickens, a tame cat and feed wild cats that come onto my property. I have had to keep the horses in a pen so they won't run away and be hurt. I had to use a bridle and saddle to ride them, prodded them with my legs to make them go and go in the direction I wanted them to go. My birds are in big caes so they don't fly away and get eaten by the coyotes. My dogs live behind a fence for the same reason, so they won't get loose and be killed. I use a leash on them when we go for walks for the same reason. I do not see this as cruel. It is something that has to be done in this day and age. If you want to see cruel, take a look at what is being done to animals that are being used by scientists to test anything from cosmetics to poison to genetic manipulations.
Another show of Steve's I saw was of him and his wife saving animals from a devastating fire. They were running into the flames to get any animals they could see and catch to save them from being killed. And other people that worked with him were in various other places of the fire doing the same thing.
And as was mentioned, he has done so much for conservation and wildlife, getting people to understand that the destruction of the planet and its wildlife will be a detriment to us all.
Was all of this that Steve has done all for show? I can't say because I didn't personnally know him. But, I have not seen anything that would make me believe this. I'm sure he wanted his show to be successful as would anyone in his position. But, what I saw Steve do the few times I watched him was saving animals. Keeping them from being killed. Yes, he loved retiles. Somebody has to. I am not a big proponet of retiles. But they are 2D entities. Not 4D entities. They neither know about STO and STS nor do they care. They are not in league with the lizzies anymore that any other animal that can be used by them.
I am neither for nor against Steve Irwin. I just am stating what I saw and how I perceived it. As Laura said in her post, don't judge the man until you've walked a couple days in this moccasins (I'm going by memory here).
But, this is just my opinion.
Lynne
