irrelevant, meaning they have no more value than an object.

Yeah, it's nothing to do with being a kinkster. We generally have a better idea about what kink entails, these days, and so referring to those bad ones as "fetish seekers" or "kinksters" isn't going to fit well. If the specific reason they're looking at animals is as a way to be 'wrong', i.e. seeking that taboo, that seems to fit much better, which is why I tend to say "taboo seeker" now when I'm talking about the ZETA principles.

It makes sense, and I agree that such approach is part of the problem, especially when "wrong" is supposed to mean "degrading". Yet I feel that "taboo" may be too broad of a term - even a loving caring zoo relationship may qualify as taboo. And still I can imagine a situation where such "taboo seeking" may not cause harm, as per my previous example: a submissive who's into being subservient to dogs. It's definitely taboo, but chances are the animals wouldn't be forced or mistreated.

I think "degrading" the animals is the problem: stripping them of their agency, individuality and making them only means to an end. (Sadly we know this is pretty common even in everyday life.) I don't know an accurate word for describing people who harbor such views, I just feel not all kinksters qualify. There's the hope that educating them instead of shunning may result in less harm.

hey, not really sure where to ask this. But does anyone know what happened to zooville? I pop in there once or twice a year and it seems to be down. rip

Zooville suffers a lot from DDOS attacks and the like, so can be down a lot more than ZooCommunity or Zoocadia. But it is still very much alive at. https://www.zoovilleforum.net/

Thank you, HugDoggy. I've briefly looked at Zoocadia, but don't remember it. Is it a new website?

It was set up Dec 2023 https://zoocadia.net I've always found it a friendly and caring place, Zooville not so much.

I'll have to check it out, then.

Awwwwoooooo

Awoo awoo!

For Zoo Pride Week coming up Zooey magazine has a 2 question survey out: What does the zoo community mean to you? Why is it important for you to be connected to other zoos? And Too many people see animals as all the same with no individuality. As zoos, we know this isn't true. What's the thing that makes the special animal in your life unique? The best Answers may be used in Zooey articles. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P89YJ7X

I was here, briefly. I don't really have the energy to read a whole year's worth of posts, but a few people might find it interesting I poked my snoot in. Hope everyone is doing well.

Hi CeresFallen nice to see you again, I hope you had a good year since we saw you last.

Hi everyone, just wanted to let everyone know that I'm new here and open to answering any questions about myself or just chatting.

We're back baby! So ZC along with a few other zoo sites had an issue with a Domain provider, who wasn't super happy with zoos, so in simple terms basically unpluged us, but thankfully the issue has been resolved now, and hopefully we're all good again moving forward.

Phewwwww. What happened, in short, is that zoomag got checked out by the registrar's abuse team or something. Njalla tries to bill itself as a hardcore freedom-of-speech advocate, though of course you know what we're often compared to. There's a specific oily feeling to positivity pieces when it comes to maligned sexualities, which is part of what Zoodonym warns about when he talks about too much raw meaningless positivity from all the Twitter zoos. (I originally used the word "investigated" in here, but I edited it out. I was talking about the registrar team!)

At some level, yes, we need to push back against incorrect public perceptions, and we should avoid placating bullies, but there's a complex space in there where we show what our values are and can actually move the needle.

Hey, welcome back ZC! If I had to guess some of those AZA (anti zoophile alliance) clowns probably mass reported your sites to the registrar. They've been giving us some trouble as well on ZCA. Glad you all could get it resolved without losing your domain names. Registrar locks can be a pain in the behind to unlock.

Sorry! I got busy and only managed to do some important upkeep today.