Dear Papabear,
Yeah, I did send you an email about one thing but this subject is a brand new one, and it's about this stupid "Anti-Wolfaboo" thing going around. Note: It might not be much around in Furry Fandom but it might be known and used badly. Ever heard about it? http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Wolfaboo. At first when I heard about it, I thought it was just talking about a person being sooooo obsessed with wolves, that the person gets very annoying over others, threat others for no reason, and makes non-sense facts over stuff already proven (Like how there are more grey wolves in the world) and other possible things. All together. But when I look around Deviant Art, it seems these anti-wolfaboos I hear about, basically attacks ANYONE who loves wolves, who wants to protect them, or have any personality with them. They may not attack basic wolf liking people, but anyone who loves them personality (They said it's OK to like, but not go beyond) and wants to protect them from hunters, or wants to draw personal designs of wolves (Sparkle wolves for example), or wanting to believe wolves can sometimes be harmless, or wanting to have wolf pets, or believing you are a wolf or some form, believing they are magical in spirit and such, or anything that is amazing, gets attacked. And it often comes from the ego groups from DA who wants to promote hunting, who wants to promote fur, and other messed up things. They also believe that what they often know are "facts" and much more. The worst part, is that I don't seem to see any groups/stamps much that defends wolf lovers, just the nasty hate stamps hunter supporting stamps most of the time. And the even WORST part, I fear this "anti-wolfaboo" bullcrap is spreading all over the Internet. (If it's a small group, that isn't effecting anything, I could just ignore it but...) I looked at some comments regarding that movie "Alpha and Omega", and I start seeing "Wolfaboo!" and this one I wanted to check to see if it wasn't spread. "Wolfaboo the movie!". As they said it in a bad way. In fact, I think this is how I found these nasty groups on the Internet and I think it's spreading. Also, I found a stamp saying "wolfaboo" the movie, and of course, it's this. Like I see many hateful comments judging the way the style of the cartoons of the wolves look, pretend fans who like the movie because of them, don't count and other sad things like bashing against the idea of hunting being bad, and such. And yet, I love the designs and I even like the movie for that reason, and that it shows love for creatures existing. God it feels like, everything in this world I love, is frowned upon. Everything. Now, not only that there is unusual hate against furries who could have a certain "fetish" but now furries/or non-furries who happens to just love wolves in anyway, gets attacked, just because of the personality. Anyone who draws "wings" on wolves, makes them magic, or any sign of loving them, is looked down. Sorry if I said anything twice here. I question you though, did you hear anything about this or similar before? Is there anything wrong with being a "wolfaboo?" Note: people might of used the name of it wrong but IDK anymore. Do you know if this bullcrap against wolf fans is spreading and rising? When I saw this, it felt like a big huge middle finger against my own personality and love for these creatures, and man I just feel sad that this whole "drama" has to exist on the Internet. It's now a word that's made up, just to bash anyone who might fit in with it. It's sad, honestly. Sorry, may not be a proper question, like I often say. If you don't understand my writing, please tell me. ;) Diamond Man * * * Welcome back, Diamond Man, While I’ve heard about wolfaboos, I had not heard about any large anti-wolfaboo movement of any kind. I certainly see nothing wrong with liking wolves and wanting to protect them. Goodness knows wolves have for too long taken a bad rap from humans that they don’t deserve. They are actually quite shy animals and stay away from humans whenever they can. Grey wolves have sprung back somewhat in population in North America, which is good, but the bad news is that there is already a movement to de-list them from government protections, which is ludicrous. It makes me physically ill that there are so many humans who like to kill such a beautiful creature. Such people have lost all connection to Nature and appreciation for the wonder of life. There is something dark and twisted about their souls IMO. There is no need to kill wolves. They are not very dangerous to humans (coyotes, cougars, and bears are all much more dangerous to people), and it is rare that they harm livestock (and protecting livestock from wolves is very simple to do; also, the federal government reimburses ranchers for livestock losses due to wolf predation; furthermore, most livestock losses due to predation are caused by stray DOGS, sometimes mistaken for wolves.). Therefore, the only reason to kill them is because you get off on killing things, which is just sick and disturbing. Having said that, I would like to note that it is not a good idea to have a wolf as a pet. They are wild animals and belong in the wild, not in your home; even raising them from pups is not a good idea. Too, there are some people who raise wolf/dog hybrids (cf: http://www.timberwolfinformation.org/info/archieve/newspapers/wolf_hybridsarenotsafe.htm) that can be a danger to people. On the other hand, drawing pictures of wolves, anthrowolves, or even sparklewolves with wings on them is harmless. If people have nothing better to do than to criticize artists who draw such things, then those haters really need to get a life. They’re pathetic. Now, when we get to the extreme of wolfaboos, my understanding is that this can get a little out of control. Wolfaboos (and anyone please correct me if Papabear is wrong) find wolves to be superior to humans and enjoy stories about humans being killed and eaten by wolves. To me, this indicates a deep hatred of humans that cannot be described as healthy. But I believe that is the extreme case and most wolfaboos just have a very passionate love for Canis lupus and nothing against humans per se. As with anything, getting obsessed about something is really not good for your mental health. It tends to give you a skewed outlook on life, and when that happens you lose your ability to be objective and to see things clearly. This can then result in some bad decision making. It can, likewise, be harmful to obsess about people who are trashing wolfaboos. If you constantly worry about trolls and haters, writing them emails or posting in blogs to respond to their hate, you just give them ammunition to harm you back, and you also validate their hatred by recognizing it as noteworthy. See, what these people want is attention, so they say any dumb thing to get it. The more you respond to them, the more they get off on it because they see they are upsetting you, and haters LOVE that. So, here’s what you do: ignore what is hateful and reinforce what is good. You love wolves? Great! Donate to an organization that helps wolves. Get active in politics: write to your senator or representative against bills to de-list wolves from the Endangered Species List and for any bills that help protect wild lands and prevent wolf hunting. Drawing pictures of sparklewolves and such is fun. You want to make a difference, though? Help the real wolves of the world. They can use your help. Hugs, Papabear
15 Comments
Diamond Man
9/26/2013 08:33:27 am
Of course, I did reply in email, I will just say this too:
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Dan the bear
9/26/2013 12:17:15 pm
Well, i never heard about such thing, not the movement , not the haters. Bu i think that while things stay in the internet, theres no real harm there beyond some trolls that cna be blocked. Wolf is one of the most popular animals in the fandom and im sure it would be difficult that a movement to annoy them prevails.
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Sha
9/26/2013 04:15:45 pm
Just to shed some light on things, I was there near the beginning of the anti-movement, and the main reason why there was a movement is because a) the wolfaboos acutally would go batshit insane on anyone who did not like wolves, and b) a lot of the anti's were ranchers and had either serious problems with wolves, or knew someone who did (small communities and all).
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Papabear
9/27/2013 02:23:53 am
Thanks for your comments, Sha. It's good to hear the story from both sides of the issue, and you provided a very detailed response.
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D-Man
9/27/2013 06:36:38 am
Jeez, I don't think I'm a fan of having a Wolf pet, I was giving my thoughts about some people "owning one".
Sha
9/27/2013 08:35:16 am
Yea, I have a feeling this is going to be a "site sources related to ones own views that will contradict each other". I'm going to do just that anyway.
Fred E Coyote
9/28/2013 02:52:39 am
If the way to stop killing, is by killing, doesn't that make you a killer? So someone must then kill you to restore order?
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D-Man/Diamond Man
9/28/2013 02:42:19 pm
@Sha
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Sha
9/28/2013 04:33:21 pm
Hey there, interesting response. :)
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Diamond Man
9/28/2013 08:19:13 pm
That's interesting, I think I do believe that Humans are spreading some respect for Nature than last time, although I have to disagree that hunting some to "help" isn't a good thing still, since it would be considered "abuse" to the life of another animal (Even if that even did help). Sorry if you did not mean it that way. In case so, I heard that hunting can actually cause more problems somewhere once. And questions me about the hunting of humans it's self, to be "OK". Even though we can control our selves more, but the other reasons of being responsible outside of us still remains.
Diamond Man
9/29/2013 05:39:18 pm
Yeah I can't hold it, but I will say it, since my response to Sha or anyone may not been too clear yet. And it's to everyone so it's not simply another "reply" to a single guy. And I say this just in case.
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Papabear
10/1/2013 09:47:58 am
FYI, I'm pasting below a letter I got from the Center for Biological Diversity. If you want to help wolves, here's a way to do it.
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KitKat
10/3/2013 04:23:32 am
I just wanted to stop by and say that most anti-wolfaboos actually really love wolves, they just don't want to see people spreading misinformation on them or glorify wolves in an unhealthy way. Many wolfaboos use false facts to try and back up their claims they make, and when presented with accurate information tend to yell back that you're wrong or that you hate wolves.
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Diamond Man
10/3/2013 03:49:51 pm
Sorry for long reply:
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Diamond Man
10/3/2013 04:03:54 pm
OK, may not be a 3 day late reply and my reply may have been repeated on some things, I hate that. xD Leave a Reply. |
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A note on comments: Comments on letters to Papabear are welcome, especially those that offer extra helpful advice and add something to the conversation that is of use to the letter writer and those reading this column. Also welcome are constructive criticisms and opposing views. What is NOT welcome are hateful, hurtful comments, flaming, and trolling. Such comments will be deleted from this site. Thank you.
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