# Who else remembers Ostrich Racing?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-remembers-ostrich-racing/1009527>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 1, 2024, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-remembers-ostrich-racing/1009527 "2024-11-01T01:48:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-remembers-ostrich-racing/1009527/21 "2024-11-02T23:08:25Z")

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You have to remember, nobody asked the elephant if it wanted to be tamed or captured in the first place, no matter how much Stockholm Syndrome they may exhibit afterwards. And the elephant wrangler didn’t make friends with it out of some ideal platonic serendipity— the elephants are there to be exploited.

Sometimes, animal protection can be about leaving wild animals, and their habitats, the fuck alone.

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**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-remembers-ostrich-racing/1009527/22 "2024-11-03T02:15:54Z")

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> [@El\_DeLuxo](#):
>
> that right there should cast some doubt on the PETA-colored narrative of oppressed, brutalized, enslaved elephants.

Thanks for your patronizing, intentionally obtuse, ill-informed response that completely failed to address any of the salient points against keeping elephants as novelties for tourists to ride, which was not, as you characterized it, a “PETA-colored narrative”.

Stranger

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**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-remembers-ostrich-racing/1009527/25 "2024-11-03T02:40:45Z")

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Incidentally, this was just released:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/565yonyTbCQ/maxresdefault.jpg "What Happened to Ostrich Carriages?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=565yonyTbCQ)

Stranger

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-remembers-ostrich-racing/1009527/26 "2024-11-03T03:03:12Z")

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Moderating:

> [@El\_DeLuxo](#):
>
> You read what you read and believe what you (choose to) believe. I’ve read a lot about captive elephants and talked to a retired bull man or two, and there’s always the thread of the deep relationships between tame elephants and the humans who work with them, with the elephants being loyal and affectionate, even protective toward and eager to please their human keepers. Any captive elephant could easily demolish a person it was mad at, and they usually don’t; that right there should cast some doubt on the PETA-colored narrative of oppressed, brutalized, enslaved elephants. Again, you’ve read what you’ve read, and believe what you choose to believe, but do try to remember the fact that a lot of these animal protection groups are more about controlling humans than they are about helping animals.

> [@DPRK](#):
>
> You have to remember, nobody asked the elephant if it wanted to be tamed or captured in the first place, no matter how much Stockholm Syndrome they may exhibit afterwards. And the elephant wrangler didn’t make friends with it out of some ideal platonic serendipity— the elephants are there to be exploited.
> 
> Sometimes, animal protection can be about leaving wild animals, and their habitats, the fuck alone.

> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> > [@El\_DeLuxo](#):
> >
> > that right there should cast some doubt on the PETA-colored narrative of oppressed, brutalized, enslaved elephants.
> 
> Thanks for your patronizing, intentionally obtuse, ill-informed response that completely failed to address any of the salient points against keeping elephants as novelties for tourists to ride, which was not, as you characterized it, a “PETA-colored narrative”.
> 
> Stranger

Hey, this is getting overboard for a light-hearted thread about historical ostrich racing. It’s also a hijack. If anyone feels the need to continue this discussion, DM me (or any mod) and I’ll move the relevant posts to their own thread. But please drop the discussion in this thread.

Thanks.

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