Wait, why is âThe Dodoâ bad?
I got quite a few questions and responses about why the online brand / website / Facebook page âThe Dodoâ shouldnât be supported. Hereâs a quick rundown:
Misguided Anti-Captivity. They are often blatantly anti-captivity, or use anti-captivity language and/or promote anti-captivity views. They use language such as an animal is âtrappedâ in a zoo or an animal was âsavedâ from a zoo. They actively support and often get quotes from representatives from ZooCheck, an anti-zoo and anti-captivity organization, and support HSUS (Humane Society of the United States). Their reports on tragedies of animals being injured or dying at zoos are overwhelmingly full of blame, toxicity, and disrespect. Their ideas of anti-captivity are incredibly limited and misguided â they are often pro âsanctuaryâ with the idea that all sanctuaries are better and they rarely discuss any kind of conservation.
Anthropomorphism over Accuracy. They are wildly, ridiculously, inaccurately anthropomorphic. For example, a picture of a bear leaned against a wall is captioned as: âHe looks desperate, depressed, despondent. He stares up, seeming to search for a way out.â They described an owl resting on someoneâs shoulder as âmissing the man who saved her so much she couldnât stop hugging him.â A kitten âlooks at his rescuers face to be reassured everything is okay.â  One of their most recent articles is about a cow âshedding tearsâ and crying because it is sad. Overall, they are much more concerned with âtugging on heartstringsâ of animal lovers than with being accurate about animal behavior.Â
Unsafe Animal Interactions and Inappropriate Pets. Despite being anti-captivity when it comes to zoos specifically, they have often published videos of exotic pets and/or inappropriate free contact with wild/dangerous animals.Â
Lack of Primary Sources and Information. They often lack any resources to accurate information about their ânewsâ. Recently they made a 45-second video which claimed that basically any elephant on display (from a Ringling Circus to a rural south Asian performance) was automatically and certainly being abused and tortured. There were no sources or proof to back this up, no resources to explore, nothing. They rarely have any kind of scientist or animal care worker as a source for any video or article, just activists.Â
Stealing and Editing Videos. Youâll notice almost every video on their site is made by them and hosted there, not shared from somewhere else. They take videos from other sources, add music and text, and call it their own. They almost never link to the original source.Â
Overall, âThe Dodoâ is not a news site. Itâs a brand. Itâs a website designed to get views and make money - it will do anything just to get those clicks. But it tries to sell itself as news, and therein lies the issue. They use strong language, buzzwords, and clickbait titles in order to push a vague, biased agenda that hurts those of us who work in zoos and other animal facilities.
Here is another strong, detailed breakdown of some of their common practices written by Why Animals Do the Thing