Jen was in Orlando this week, and she has decided it is not an animal-loving town.
Of course, there’s Sea World and its treatment of large sea creatures used to “entertain” the masses. But Sea World isn’t the only place you’ll find animals being used for human entertainment.
Jen stayed at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando to attend a conference. While there, she saw the famous Peabody Mallards.
The ducks appear well-cared for, so what could be wrong with this attraction? Well…….
According to hotel information, the ducks are raised by a farmer, and live at the hotel until fully grown, and then, when retired, “are returned to the wild.”
What? Returned to the wild? They’ve never been IN the wild! And do you really think adolescent ducks, kept indoors until fully grown,can be released into the wild and fend for themselves? I don’t buy it.
Of course, this is irrelevant now, because on Thursday Hyatt announced it’s purchased the Peabody Orlando, and the ducks will have to go.
Oh well, let’s go buy some souvenirs.
I saw this in a local souvenir shop. I don’t know if it was once a living gator, but many of other things on the table were once living things.
Yep, those are dead baby sharks for sale. For $15.99, you can have a dead baby shark of your very own. You can also have the preserved head of an adolescent alligator.
According to the Shark Savers website, sharks are hunted solely for their teeth. The rest of the shark is discarded. The baby sharks are bottled in formaldehyde to be sold.
I was floored! I didn’t realize this kind of thing still happens here in the US.
Disney, you may paint Orlando as an idyllic vacation destination for humans, but Orlando is hell on animals.
Dogpaddling Through Life 
Well, at least the occasional shark turns the tables, huh?
The only reason sharks are alive is the entertainment industry hasn’t figured out a way to kill them all….. yet. I’m sure they’re working on it.
That is horrible! Those poor ducks that were just thrown out into a world they have no idea how to survive in. And who in their right mind would want a dead baby shark?! I just don’t understand.
My suspicions is that “returned to the wild” means canned hunt. But i have no proof of that.
Our mom and dad have stayed in the Peabody Hotel, Memphis, TN. They had a chance to go to the Roof to see where the ducks actually live when not in the fountain. It was a Great location. Heated and Cooled as the weather required. Plenty of space for them to waddle around. They were told that when the ducks retired they went back to the FARM they came from… NOT returned to Wild. These are all Domestic Ducks. They were very well cared for.
Now those Sharks… THAT is pretty Strange!
Jen has been to the Memphis hotel also. This is the Orlando Hotel, and she got her information directly from written info in the hotel room.
http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/blog/2013/08/the-official-word-on-the-peabody.html
“In other news – swimmer attacked by Great White. Hotel reports victim had just purchased dead baby shark in formaldehyde. Boy, ya talk about your irony. Back to you, John.”
ROFL!
Not surprised…..sheesh…:(
I was just floored. How can it still be legal to sell animals for souvenirs?
As long as there is demand from humans animals will pay the price…gross..humans have a base nature and will exploit each other so animals are even easier.
Ohh that just pisses me off like crazy.. just like the selling of live turtles as keychains.. what the HECK are we even spending money on?? o_o GOD
I know!
Oh my gosh… what is with people. Why in any name would someone feel the need to buy a preserved, dead, baby shark? Sigh…
I have no idea, but since I saw teen and pre-teen boys hanging out at the table, I’m guessing these items are marketed to them.
If they are on the store shelf, then somebody is buying them. I hope the baby sharks aren’t preserved in formaldehyde, because there are laws against selling formaldehyde and OASHA requires anyone who even works around formaldehyde to take classes on safe handling. It isn’t your every day type of substance!
I don’t know what they’re in, other than it’s a liquid.
If it’s not in formaldehyde, then I would hope that the person who purchases the preserved baby shark gets at least $15.99 worth of stink 🙂
How scary….what a sad truth this is…..poor baby sharkes….I’m wondering who buy these poor things and what for they buy them…..they must be lunatic…. 😦
I’m not sure if you posted this, but I read about a popular necklace sold in Japan that contains a live baby turtle in a container. The turtles do not survive for long. Disturbing.
I’ve heard of it, and apparently it’s been going on for years.
Thank you for letting us all know. Really awful, Rumpy. Just so depressing!!!
I agree. 😦
I’m not sure if the ducks would prefer a marble well if they could choose. I’m not a fan of attractions like Sea World, where dolphins, seals and whales have to entertain the people. That’s like living in a porta potty for this poor animals.
Every morning the ducks “march” from their marble digs to the fountain, and every afternoon they return to their “home.” Jen watched one of the marches, and the ducks appeared to her to be afraid. Makes sense- adolescents surrounded by humans.
Not great is it,I guess I won’t be going there with that kind of stuff going on,xx Rachel
No, it’s really sad. Compare this to Denver, who touts itself as animal-friendly. I don’t think you’d find dead animals for sale there.
Dear Rumpy, I have gotten to know a very sweet lady from Canada that loves cats and takes care of strays and those that are dumped near her property. She has shared some very sad incidents about what people do to cats and kittens. What’s wrong with the human race???
What’s wrong is they are not educated on what is wrong with their behavior. That’s my job- to teach people why their actions are wrong.
It’s like this duck thing. We’ve known about the ducks at the Peabody for years, but only now have I learned the fate of the ducks, and I am appalled.
Dead baby sharks? Are humans this seriously demented?!?
Apparently…… 😦
I have always wanted a baby shark…NOT!!!!
I don’t get why anyone would want one. But someone must.
Wow! That is intense. Did not expect Orlando to be such a scary place.
They like to herd humans into their money-making places, so why not?
what is it with humans that they have to “buy” dead animals stuck in glass…what? they sit it on their mantle to show off??? Mom stopped going to a Pilates instructor because she was always selling her “crafts”…read crap she bought from someone to sell to others for even more…one item she was always pushing were once live jellyfish, no dead stuck in a “beautiful glass dome”…Mom was told “oh no, these aren’t taken from the ocean, the ‘artisit’ raises them” …so he can kill them and stick them in glass. Disgusting…but then this pilates instructor also declawed her precious indoor kitty named Daisy. We don’t like Orlando…
That’s humans, though, right? Let’s create life so we can destroy it. *sigh*
Who would want a baby shark or an adult one at that? It’s not just the people who buy them, it’s the industry that has to be stopped. In the same way you are not allowed to bring ivory in the country, they should not be allowed to import dead sharks and alligators.
I happen to agree with you, but until we get enough irate people to encourage elected officials to vote for those laws, it’s not gonna happen.
Unbeleivable…sharks in a bottle!!! Disgusting!! Those poor babies. I am pretty sure that Alligator was once a living creature too!! orlando DOES suck…why why why do people buy into this abhorrent trade??
As for the Peabody Ducks I agree with you Rumpy & Jen as they are ‘farm born & raised’ they will be ‘sitting ducks’ if released into the wild….Poor darlings!!!!
Makes a person wonder WHY!!!!!
Sherri-Ellen & Nylablue too!
They may be released into the wild just before a hunter shoots them. 😦
It slays me what people think of cool or entertaining. Thanks for drawing attention to the madness.
One of the things we loved when we used to vacation on the Vineyard is they love animals there. Almost every place welcomes dogs and we brought our fur kids with us when we stayed there. These days, we stay local New England is pet friendly and mostly animal sensitive. Very moose and goose. I don’t like being places where animals are not well treated. It can ruin the entire vacation.
Whoa! That is horrifying. And so very sad.
: (
Rumpy this really is disgusting. Well done for raising awareness x
Is just not right!!!! How ‘I wish animals would be protected and not be abused for the fun of humans. Like you posts, awareness can change things. So thank you for sharing this!!!
Woof! Woof! The first step is awareness!!!!
How archaic and I sincerely hope nobody buys any of those hideous souvenirs
There’s an hotel in Washington, DC that is famous for its “duck on parade.” They swim in a fountain and can course down a runnel of water. It’s depressing. Like you, I wonder what happens to these ducks when they’re past their prime? What happens to the ducks who don’t play along. The store you showed sounds like a house of horrors. I bet you that adult alligator was once living. The poor Everglades! They’ve shrunk by millions of acres because of human encroachment. Did you know that the Everglades is a river that is very shallow and very broad? It’s a wonder of nature, but they keep draining it to build housing and polluting it with runoff. How will this Earth survive? When will people realize that they are part of the ecology, not separate from it? You’d think the honey bee die-off would scare them into enlightenment. *sigh*
Hiss!! What are they thinking over there!!? That is infuriating!
Humans are supposed to nurture and protect animals-not destroy them for entertainment and profit!
Those souvenirs are revolting! But they wouldn’t be selling them if people didn’t buy them – who wants things like that?
I actually have a spiny dogfish in a jar that someone bought when I was like 3 years old, it just sits in my room on a shelf…all lifeless like.
Also a bit disturbing: they sell dried seahorses at Hobby Lobby.
People probably buy them because they feel like its the best way to OWN an exotic animal, since you can’t(or shouldn’t) easily get one as a pet.
All of those sharks in jars are spiny dogfish. They are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN and have declined greatly due to overfishing, with a decrease of up to 95 percent in some areas. They are still among the most common of shark species.