animals deserve better :(

forgive me if im being overly emotional. I have some fresh emotions left over from an unexpected pet loss, and I care deeply for animals already. just ranting, not a serious/edited sorta thing.

I saw a few tiktok of a girl handling a bat questionably, like touching it directly without gloves, having it in direct bright light, holding it like an ordinary pet rat, etc.

and my concern isn't for the girl, but for the bat. if you have ever been to a zoo you'd know they shouldn't be in direct lighting. if you've ever done research at all (which if you have one as a pet you most definitely should have done research) they don't make good pets in general. even if the bat doesn't have any diseases, handling one with bare hands is risky and harmful. even with gloves, hands on handling should be kept to a minimum unless absolutely necessary. oils from human skin, rough handling, etc, can literally TEAR THE BAT'S EXTREMELY FRAGILE WING MEMBRANES!! she also grips the bat as if the poor thing is a rat. that can hurt their tiny lightweight bones, its kinda the equivalent of holding a rat by the tail. and comments are still just saying "aww how cute ur cuddling him!"

one of her most popular vids is of her kissing her pet chameleon and it jumps at her, clearly  freaking out. but for some reason people manage to forget that they are living beings, but also that they don't have human mannerisms. sometimes, an animals that's acting cute is really an animal that's terrified, but people just kept commenting "omg ur the irl rapunzel! he loves u!"

apparently she works at an exotic animal centre called panteric. mind you this place seems legit, having education programs, a veterinary clinic, a pet store, and more that I can't remember. but it seems like they're more worried about promotion than anything else, even spreading false info about reptile care to get people to go out and buy them like they're objects. idk its just fucked up.

I get that most people aren't that obsessed with these random creatures so they might not have the knowledge to comment that its bad or to leave it entirely, but if this girl works at an actual animal centre, she should know.

it doesn't seem like she means harm, she does seem to like the IDEA of these animals, but lack of education in people like this can result in the loss or impact of animals' lives.

onto my next lil rant, why do people see smaller animals as if they're worth less? ive been made fun of for being upset about my dead guinea pigs and rats, often hearing "its just a guinea pig". like, if your dog died would you be okay with that? oml. 

why does smaller mean worth less? ive also been told the suggestion to literally sell my pets so I could afford a new tv. what the fuck? and he was dead serious too??

anddd onto the next, why tf am I seeing videos (some older but still) of people just buying pets to joke around with. like that vid go the ppl buying a baby guinea pig and bringing it through a drive through, letting the employee hold the guinea pig, swinging the poor thing around in the box, etc.

they also didn't buy another guinea pig, which sucks because guinea pigs are very social creatures. they need a buddy to keep the mental and physical health okay.

and they got a store bought hamster cage (tiny, not suitable for even a hamster, let alone a guinea pig.)

why are we seeing so many people treat animals, especially small animals, like toys? tbh even my toys got better treatment than these poor babies when I was younger.