Hi Simon
You are indeed lucky to be able to work with such animals...but lets not kid ourselves that be it snakes chimps or ant 'true' non domesticated animal then the only place for such is in the wild.
Your pictures I am afraid only reinforce my view, to 'humanise' animals to promote products is not for me thanks, but I am sure you treat them in a excellent manner.
Just my views you undertand for the sake of a bit of balance.
Neil, I respect your view and I think Graham's follow-up post hits the nail on the head.
Humans have been anthropomorphising since civilisation began, (animal deities) and the bigger our brains get, the more we seem to see everything only in terms of ourselves, as though we are no longer a part of the "animal kingdom".
Without doubt, the biggest threat to all species across the planet is habitat destruction, whether deforestation or oceanic pollution. Species are disappearing faster than they can be catalogued.
On one level my work is mundane in supplying companion animals for human benefit or "art and entertainment" as in the photos.
On another level, as Graham points at, it also brings a hands-on experience, improved knowledge and awareness to a mass of humanity who would otherwise not even think about the world outside their own "home comforts".
I breed many of my own animals, several have been UK "firsts" for those species. A number of them are CITES-listed endangered species. Behind the scenes, over the years, I have lectured to veterinary students and nurses at the Royal Veterinary College, contributed to academic studies on amphibian toxins and reptile parasites (for which efforts I had an organism named after me
), written husbandry articles for Reptile Magazines, contributed to National Geographic and Euston Films (Nature Documentaries) as well as nature awareness art exhibitions at the likes of Whitechapel Arts Gallery and Camberwell Art Centre; hosted childrens parties at my shop (to help them learn an early age respect for these creatures), contributed to psychology programmes to help people overcome their phobias; participated in numerous TV and radio debates from Newsnight to Blue Peter to The Big Breakfast (where one of my frogs memorably leapt out of my hands straight into Ant or was it Dec's face?
) and an awful lot more I can't be bothered to recall.
I always approach my work as the interface between curiosity/ ignorance hopefully becoming respect/fascination.
The sheer volume of Urban Myth that surrounds animals in general (not just my specialist area of reptiles and fish) is unbelievable. Some, but not that much coming from the Animal Rights movement, whom I have also lectured on.
You're right though, it is a great privilige to be in my position, but I try to put something back in to educate the next generation at the same time.
As far as "humanising animals for product promotion" is concerned, I really don't have a problem with it as it's a continual reminder to people that there are other living things besides ourselves. I don't like the (rare) crossovers from film/TV like Ninja Turtles, where an ill-advised craze develops for the animal in question, but this is usually brought on by the demands of the kids themselves, subsequently fuelled by the media, which could be stopped in its tracks if suppliers had a conscience. Unfortunately they don't. But that's humans for you? It's rare though, as I say.
