armadillo

I went to Youtube again to watch some betta videos, and, again, it was sick vid after sick vid.

Maybe I didn't read right, but I do not see anything in the terms of agreement about a vid being inappropriate through animal abuse. I find these videos absolutely revolting. People dropping small fish in a tank with a betta and filming them being eaten, annoying the betta for a really long time to show off their flaring, bettas put in the same bowl to fight, bettas in such a small ball they can barely move, you name it.

I don't even dignify them by watching them as soon as I realise what they're about. I needed that rant (again). I just don't get how you could get a kick out of hurting an animal.

COBettaCouple

those videos show us what criminal and/or sick people do in their free time. animal cruelty is a sign of a twisted and cowardly individual who should be locked away in a box and kept out of civilized society.

armadillo

It shows a lack of empathy that I find very worrying. It makes me wonder about their lack of empathy in other areas. If they can't identify with a suffering animal, what's to tell me they can identify with a suffering human?

COBettaCouple

they usually can't. many of the sickest, cruelest criminals/murderers in jail started out with animal cruelty.

armadillo

That's certainly how the Stephen King villains start! And that transition totally figures.

COBettaCouple

one of the more horrifying murders (and cannibal to boot) here talks in interviews about his boyhood adventures in animal cruelty.. he's a real life stephen king character and i don't understand how cruelty makes some people happy.

armadillo

I don't really get how they get to achieve celebrity status either. Why should they get to give interviews and probably get royalties for it when they're basically cashing in on their crime.

COBettaCouple

that's the joy of being a vicious murderer in america - you don't ever really have to pay for your crimes but the public has to foot the bill for your comforts, free medical care, etc and you get fame to boot.

armadillo

Well, you guys still have death penalty in some states, so I guess it's not an entirely risk-free business.

COBettaCouple

lol.. well, very few states have it.. those that do rarely enforce it.. and the few who do get executed spend years and years and years in prison doing appeals & all. they tend to die of old age more than anything else.

armadillo

Ah well that's better than I thought. I thought that just before elections, a lot of them were executed so the incumbant senators/governors whatever you call them can look like a firm hand.

COBettaCouple

lol, no.. they no longer pretend to care what the people think.. the news media tells the sheep who to vote for and what to think.

armadillo

Sounds lovely!

Carillon

Hi,

I'm new to the forums, but I just thought I'd say that I've seen these videos too, and as a betta lover it makes me very angry. Still, I think all we can do is rail at YouTube to get them removed by flagging them, and hope that others will follow.

On the other hand, though, we should remember to praise the videos that show people taking good care of their fishy friends. I've seen lots of positive comments on the few videos that show happy bettas in large filtered tanks, and seeing how beautiful these fish can be when given the right conditions can only encourage less experienced betta owners to invest in good equipment. Oh, and the highlight of my day last week -- I spotted a video on how to properly take care of your betta! I bet a few people on these forums could make a few great videos like that one that would really help educate new owners.

There will always be jerks out there who think fish don't have any rights, and YouTube has become a tool for them to post their videos, but maybe with some effort we can replace some of those fighting fish movies with more positive ones.

Just my optimistic two cents! Let's not give up on YouTube entirely just yet.

~Carillon

atmmachine816

Well stated, for all the bad stuff on youtube, you can find good stuff, if not make it. And it's freedom of speech you could say, you can protest against it too. If you don't like it, write a nice comment telling them what they are doing is wrong and flag it, and hope they change something, if not you got the word out. You can not change everybody and tell them what to do, but you can try.

As for death penalty there's one in Ohio, one guy just died from it, the main thing about that now is that it is not peaceful and causes pain and is not instant, one reason people are fighting against it, along with others.

armadillo

I completely agree with you, Carillon. I do that too now: flag the inappropriate ones, and leave + comments on the nice ones. Except that I cannot find in the terms of agreement anywhere that mentiosn somethign could be considered inapproipriate because of animal abuse. So I just flag as inappropriate/others.

It has reached the point when I am almost nervous about clicking on a betta link as it's soooo often really disgusting. It's kind of taken a lot of my youtubing pleasure out of it.

COBettaCouple

i don't even bother much with watching youtube vids unless they're posted by members here.. just tired of all the crap and everything.

armadillo

That's pretty much how I feel now. You feel like a twisted sicko on the prawl for animal cruelty and violence although you're genuinely trying to find the nice vids of bettas.