- Joined
- Nov 19, 2002
- Messages
- 2,107
Hi Armstrong,
I think there are many aspects of this planned project that are making a few of us squirm uncomfortably. The first ones that come to mind are the associated ethical problems. As far as I understand this, your friend is willing to have at least two octopuses shipped to her, which she plans to study for a short period of time. Depending on how short the period of time is, she may not even see the octopuses, as they will be stressed and hiding after their trip. As TPG observed, their behavior following transport is unlikely to be anything approaching natural. Then, after this short period of study, the octopuses will be moved to some other location, whether that be donated to a local aquarium, shipped back (more stress) (and for resale?!), returned to the live fish supplier (horror), or, most unlikely, released. This amount of disruption within the (short) life of an animal which, as you say, is intelligent and amazing, seems extremely unfair to the animal. Most octo keepers order a young octopus and try to offer it the best quality habitat possible over the course of its life, caring for it, keeping it busy (and marveling the whole way at its personality) and safe, to try to compensate for the inherent fact that this octopus, living its life in captivity, will never have a 'natural' life or, most likely, any surviving offspring. The idea that anyone, whether using an ideal and well-prepared setup or not, and no matter how book-smart and well-read on cephs (in fact, this alone should be enough to dissuade you), would keep octopuses short-term for the purpose of conducting experiments or even just observations that, as you said, have already been conducted and written about by others (but simply not experienced first-hand by your friend), is frankly upsetting. The lives of octopuses are just too short and precious to jeopardize by shipping them to a temporary home for a short period, to undergo some observations and then meet an unknown fate. Would your friend adopt a puppy for a few days to observe its behavior, then take it to the Humane Society? The net gain from this project/experiment (as you have currently explained it to us - sorry if I have missed anything or misunderstood) does not to justify the stress and jeopardy it will bring to the octopuses involved, if your friend is not prepared to give them a good and lasting home.
Sorry.
I think there are many aspects of this planned project that are making a few of us squirm uncomfortably. The first ones that come to mind are the associated ethical problems. As far as I understand this, your friend is willing to have at least two octopuses shipped to her, which she plans to study for a short period of time. Depending on how short the period of time is, she may not even see the octopuses, as they will be stressed and hiding after their trip. As TPG observed, their behavior following transport is unlikely to be anything approaching natural. Then, after this short period of study, the octopuses will be moved to some other location, whether that be donated to a local aquarium, shipped back (more stress) (and for resale?!), returned to the live fish supplier (horror), or, most unlikely, released. This amount of disruption within the (short) life of an animal which, as you say, is intelligent and amazing, seems extremely unfair to the animal. Most octo keepers order a young octopus and try to offer it the best quality habitat possible over the course of its life, caring for it, keeping it busy (and marveling the whole way at its personality) and safe, to try to compensate for the inherent fact that this octopus, living its life in captivity, will never have a 'natural' life or, most likely, any surviving offspring. The idea that anyone, whether using an ideal and well-prepared setup or not, and no matter how book-smart and well-read on cephs (in fact, this alone should be enough to dissuade you), would keep octopuses short-term for the purpose of conducting experiments or even just observations that, as you said, have already been conducted and written about by others (but simply not experienced first-hand by your friend), is frankly upsetting. The lives of octopuses are just too short and precious to jeopardize by shipping them to a temporary home for a short period, to undergo some observations and then meet an unknown fate. Would your friend adopt a puppy for a few days to observe its behavior, then take it to the Humane Society? The net gain from this project/experiment (as you have currently explained it to us - sorry if I have missed anything or misunderstood) does not to justify the stress and jeopardy it will bring to the octopuses involved, if your friend is not prepared to give them a good and lasting home.
Sorry.