Comments on: Why Don’t Vegan Children Go To The Zoo? Also, There Are Awesome Zoo Alternatives! #1 – The Natural History Museum

By: Gigi A.

Gigi A. — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 13:59:00 +0000

Dear Sayward,

My name is Gergana Alekova and I am a student at the Multidimensional Tourism Institute (MTI), University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland under the supervision of Senior Lecturer José-Carlos García-Rosell (jgarcia@ulapland.fi, Tel. +358 40 484 4190).

I am contacting you regarding my thesis entitled “A vegan perspective on animal-based tourism services: Thematic analysis of blogs”, which I am currently writing in the context of my Master’s degree in Tourism, Culture and International Management.

I myself have been vegan for almost 4 years now and my personal experiences and perspective led to a desire to explore how vegan consumers express their ethical considerations regarding animal-based tourism services. For this study I approach vegan consumers as representatives of the changing values and opinions within society regarding animal rights and welfare. Ultimately, the goal of this research is to shine a light on vegan consumers and their demand for ethical animal encounters within the tourism sector. My hope is that this research will open up the discussion regarding unethical practices on the part of animal tourism providers and will inspire academics as well as businesses and entrepreneurs to work towards a more ethical development of the tourism industry.

The study I am conducting focuses on public vegan blogs as a source of data. I have identified 2 blog entries on your platform Bonzai Aphrodite that I would like to incorporate into my research data; “Why Don’t Vegan Children Go To The Zoo? Also, There Are Awesome Zoo Alternatives! #1 – The Natural History Museum” and “Awesome Zoo Alternatives For Vegan Children! #2 – Animal Sanctuaries”.

The result of the study will be published as part of my Master thesis. The data that originates from your blogs will be used exclusively for research purposes and will be presented anonymously so neither your name nor the name of the blogging platform will be mentioned. However, the study incorporates some direct quotes from your blogs which might be traceable using online search engines. The research follows the principles for responsible conduct of research dictated by the Finnish Advisory Board on Research.

Your participation is voluntary so please contact me if you DO NOT consent to the use of your blogs as research data. Also, please feel free to contact me if you would need further information regarding the study and/or the use of the research data.

Sincerely,
Gergana Alekova
TourCIM Master Student
Email: galekova@ulapland.fi

By: Writing: Express an opinion on animal treatment – Intermediate 7 | Angela's English classes

Sat, 08 Nov 2014 00:39:26 +0000

[...] A mother’s view on zoos and an alternatives [...]

By: Pictures Of Things + Le Love List | Bonzai Aphrodite

Pictures Of Things + Le Love List | Bonzai Aphrodite — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 08:46:02 +0000

[...] you a little tail feather. Summer = mojitos (with mint right from the garden!) Rowing his boat at The natural History Museum. The bumble bees love our sunflowers, loading up on sweet summer pollen. They pack so much on, [...]

By: Today I Saw Black Fish, And They Were Beautiful | Bonzai Aphrodite

Today I Saw Black Fish, And They Were Beautiful | Bonzai Aphrodite — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 05:21:10 +0000

[...] and I’ve been writing a series here on the blog about why vegans don’t go to zoos (here and here). So I figured I’d snap a few pics if we saw any whales (I never see any! bad luck I [...]

By: The Vedge App

The Vedge App — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 18:26:00 +0000

This is EVERYTHING! Thanks for posting this. I went vegan after a visit to Sea World. From that moment, I knew I couldn’t let another animal suffer for my enjoyment. Needless to say, this issue is very special to me. <3

By: Awesome Zoo Alternatives For Vegan Children! #2 – Animal Sanctuaries | Bonzai Aphrodite

Wed, 16 Oct 2013 05:03:19 +0000

[...] first visit to Animal Acres in Acton, California. A few weeks back I wrote a post about why vegan children don’t visit the zoo, and I offered up one of my favorite zoo alternatives: the Natural History Museum. That post [...]

By: al

al — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 04:55:00 +0000

Thank you for writing about this. As a mom, and new vegan, it can be difficult to reconcile zoo-going family traditions with a new belief system.

By: S

Sat, 12 Oct 2013 17:27:00 +0000

I’m having a hard time understanding how a person can walk into a zoo and dismiss it based upon touchy-feeliness without doing any research on its inner workings. The Santa Barbara Zoo that you have written off is a non-profit. The condor exhibit that made you so sad is part of a much larger conversation project that goes far beyond this description you provide. It is in actuality a very respectable undertaking considering how it facilitates the work being done on the islands. And that concrete lion box? Please research the breeding history that has allowed many lions to transfer to other institutions in the overall mission of conservation. It is disheartening to me when real good that is being done is missed. Especially when a simple trip to their website would point to all of this information, including the accredidation process of the AZA.

By: Angela

Angela — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 21:15:00 +0000

This is a bloody fantastic post Sayward. I will be sharing it with people who don’t understand why we don’t go to zoos. You have explained it so well. Thank you.

By: RaisingVegKids.com

RaisingVegKids.com — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 14:33:00 +0000

Great post!