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THE DANGERS:
One experienced Veterinarian
who was interviewed for this
article summed up the
dangers of relying on Sugar
Glider chat rooms and
message boards as follows:
“Getting information about
how to care for ANY animal –
especially a Sugar Glider –
from an internet chat room
or message board community
is no different than
deciding to let your
children get their entire
sex education from a
junior-high lunchroom… For
sure, there will be lots of
opinions that more-or-less
all agree with each other… a
handful of facts here and
there… and even a few people
with a very limited scope
of
experience…
However, what you WON’T find
is any
scientifically-validated,
RELIABLE information put
forth by licensed
professionals that could
help them avoid making
mistakes that could severely
hurt - or even kill - them…”
That being said, the first
time many people come across
one of these Sugar Glider
“chat rooms”, they are often
immediately delighted to
find that there is
supposedly a whole
“community” of other people
out there who
appear to be: 1) more
knowledgeable than they are
about Sugar Gliders, and 2)
dedicated to honestly and
openly sharing information
for “the good of the
glider”.
They are eagerly “welcomed
in” by anonymous individuals
with humorous (but
revealing) screen
designations such as:
“Glider Slave”
- ”Glider
Lover” - “Glider Addict”
and
“Glider Guardian”
and
even more misleading
“titles” (which attempt to
award some sort of “expert
status” on their anonymous
participants) such as:
“Senior Glider Member”…
and
“Master
Glider Member”
It is important to point out
that – in the
hundreds of hours which went
into researching this
article – our
investigative team could not
locate even ONE member of
ANY Sugar Glider chat room
or message board (regardless
of their “title”) who is
actually a licensed
Veterinarian.
Instead, when we
attempted to question the
supposed “senior” members of
many of these sites about
the number of Sugar Gliders
that THEY themselves had
actually raised – we were
routinely met with
defensive, “how dare you”
type attitudes coming from
individuals who were
genuinely offended that
anyone would even DARE to
question
their authority.
Out of the handful who did
eventually answer this
question, none of them had
raised even 30 Sugar Gliders
to adulthood themselves –
and most have been illegally
breeding and selling their
own babies for years to
their online “membership”
without the required
USDA license.
In fact, the longer our
investigation continued, the
more we found the same
deceptive patterns of
slanderous gossip and
hidden-agendas repeating
themselves over and over
again.
For example, once the
unsuspecting newcomer is
“welcomed” into a typical
Sugar Glider “message
board”, if they pay close
attention they will soon
notice that only a
relatively small “core
group” of members actually
POST regularly on these chat
rooms (usually less
than 20
out of the supposedly
hundreds-of-thousands of
members many message boards
claim to have).
These
individuals almost always
zealously and passionately
promote one SINGLE way of
feeding and caring for Sugar
Gliders – and they are
backed up by a slightly
larger group (50-60) of even
less-experienced,
“part-time” members who
basically just repeat
whatever the leaders of
their group say.
In essence, it’s
“the blind leading
the blind”…
While this “core” and their
constituents are always VERY
friendly and inviting
up-front – (and they always
claim to be totally
objective and “open to new
ideas”) - in reality, in
every case we investigated
we found that they will
immediately launch vicious
and slanderous “smear
campaigns” against any other
resource (credible or
otherwise) that promotes
ALTERNATIVE methods of
feeding and caring for Sugar
Gliders; (even verifiable
sources that have been
reviewed and approved by
licensed Veterinarians).
In many cases, as a part of
their ongoing smear
campaign, they attempt to
back up their claims with an
endless stream of completely
unverifiable, 3rd-party
statements, like:
“my Vet said
xxxx”,
or “there are LOTS
of people on this forum that
got suckered in by
xxxxxxxxxx, and their
animals died.
etc.
. etc.
. ”.
These remarks are
then immediately picked up,
repeated – and amplified –
in numerous threads and
postings by other
passionate, part-time
members of “the community” –
all of whom have NO direct
knowledge of the actual
situation, or evidence to
back up their claims against
the targeted entity or
individual.
Unfortunately, when one
spends hundreds of hours
reviewing and fact-checking
thousands of posts - and
then conversing with
“senior” members on these
chat rooms and message
boards for hours - (as we
did while researching this
article); it soon becomes
painfully obvious that
“the genuine
advancement of Sugar Glider
knowledge” is
NOwhere
on their agenda.
For the innocent newcomer
then, what usually starts
out as a light-hearted –
sincere - quest for a little
more information, suddenly
turns into something similar
to encountering a “bully &
their gang” on an elementary
school playground the MINUTE
one dares question the
legitimacy of their
authority or advice.
The following 2 posts are
just one of MANY, very
“typical” examples of the
type hurtful “surprise”
experienced by well-meaning
persons when they finally
find out what these Sugar
Glider “chat rooms” and
“message boards” are REALLY
all about…
***********************************
“Somebody told me to stand
up for what I believe is
right, so here it is.
Lately the bashing in this
group has grown more and
more intolerable. I haven't
posted for quite a while
because I don't think that
everybody is allowed to ask
the questions that they
want, or express their
opinions without somebody
coming down on them for it,
myself included.
I love my gliders…but it's
just gotten out of control.
When people get criticized
or worse, kicked out of the
group for expressing their
opinions, or asking
questions, I find that
extremely sad. I
thought that we were
supposed to be here to learn
from, and HELP each other. I
will just go elsewhere for
my information. ”
2 RESPONSES from other
members:
“ I
have to say that I agree. .
It is better that I get
advice elsewhere. It's sad
and hypocritical to kick
someone off for stating
their opinion… If I wanted
drama, I would just turn on
General
Hospital.
. ”
“I must say I agree…I have
come here to learn more
about those precious animals
we all love so much, but all
I get in my email box is
this CRAP!. . ”
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In addition to viciously
attacking their own members,
one of the most harmful
consequences of this
misleading “façade” is often
that LEGITIMATE resources of
good,
scientifically-verifiable
advances in Sugar Glider
care and nutrition (many of
which have been reviewed and
approved by Veterinarians
who specialize in Sugar
Glider care and research)
are immediately subjected to
an endless barrage of
vicious and slanderous
attacks.
Upon
investigating a handful of
the most blatant instances,
we uncovered an ongoing
“soap opera” of personal
vendettas and smear
campaigns against a handful
of people and entities.
The most common scenario was
to single out a particular
person or entity; (usually a
Federally-licensed Sugar
Glider breeding facility) –
and regardless of
their actual, documented
record – immediately
label them as a “Glider
Mill”.
Upon “BRANDING” them with
this inflammatory,
emotionally-charged label,
the handful of “core”
members (again,
usually less than 12 – and
almost always claiming
purely altruistic motives &
even pretending to be
“Sugar Glider rescuers”)
will begin to post extremely
derogatory accusations -
often stating them as if
they were proven “facts” -
about the target person or
entity.
These posts are then
immediately: 1) seized upon,
2) repeated, and 3)
further magnified by other
less-experienced (but very
emotional) members of the
group – all without offering
even one piece of objective,
verifiable proof to back up their claims.
The typical string of
accusations usually
includes:
1)
selling inbred or sick
animals,
2)
recommending a diet or some
type of care that is harmful
to Sugar Gliders,
3)
selling babies that are too
young, and
4)selling
animals which later died due
to some type of malnutrition
or neglect before they were
sold.
In some extreme cases, these
supposedly “objective” chat
rooms and message boards
even make up
completely-false rumors of
massive “class-action
lawsuits” being filed by
Veterinarians against the
target of their anger.
To be clear, in each such
instance we investigated,
there was absolutely NO
objective, incontrovertible
evidence that of any of the
allegations posted on any of
these chat rooms and message
boards were true… none.
In fact
- to the contrary
- most of the persons and/or
entities we investigated for
this article which had been
“targeted” by these chat
room and message board
“smear campaigns” have
impeccable track records -
and are highly-regarded by
both State and Federal
Regulatory Authorities as
the best in their field.
Not surprisingly, for the
unsuspecting person who
innocently stumbles across
one of these sites, (usually
because they are just
thinking about getting a
Sugar Glider as a pet for
their family), reading
numerous such inflammatory
“claims” on these message
boards can be very alarming.
Based
upon our investigation of
the facts, this is exactly
their designed INTENT (i. e.
to instill fear,
intimidation, and doubt) –
regardless of actual facts,
or the truth.
Along these same lines,
another favorite “tactic”
routinely employed by Sugar
Glider chat rooms and
message boards is to try to
scare or intimidate the
facilities or meeting venues
which host events where
Sugar Gliders are being
sold.
The usual approach begins
with posting the meeting
facility’s telephone number
on their website…
Then, the core
”ring-leaders” of each chat
room encourages their
membership to call-in and
try to flood the venue’s
phone lines with: 1) false
complaints about the
person/entity that is
selling animals – and 2)
hollow threats of “impending
demonstrations”.
The typical string of
accusations they “call-in”
usually
includes:
1)
claiming they’re a customer
of the targeted vendor - and
their
animal died,
2)
pretending to be a
Veterinarian (a felony)
claiming that the targeted
vendor is selling sick or
malnourished animals,
3)
impersonating
a County, State, or even
Federal animal control
agency (again, a felony)
claiming that the animals
are illegal in their area -
and if the vendor is not
immediately removed they
will come shut down the
entire event.
4)
Attempting to illegally pass
out slanderous flyers to
event-goers (again,
illegal).
5) Placing multiple calls to a local news station (claiming
a range of the above) in
hopes of “fooling” the station into doing a
sensationalized story.
Another common tactic for these deceitful groups is to try and
actually get a booth at events where they know Sugar Gliders are
being sold. They do this by attempting to "trick" unsuspecting
promoters into thinking that they are some sort of innocent
"animal rescue". These groups often claim to have "non-profit"
status (hoping to get free - or reduced rent - booth space) -
and even submit false paperwork from other legitimate animal rescues
to further try and trick promoters into letting them in the door.
In reality, once their booth is set up, their SOLE objective is
simply to flood the crowds with slanderous information against the
licensed organization that is legitimately exhibiting Sugar Gliders
at the event - and proactively intimidate event goers into not
purchasing from them.
Fortunately, most event promoters and convention facilities have
caught-on to these childish “scare-tactics” – and are not
fooled. For example, in the
rare circumstance where one or two activists actually showed
up at an event (we could find only 2 instances of this
out of literally dozens of such “campaigns” we investigated)
– the activists were easily removed by
either security or police without causing any problems. In 2 more
cases where these groups actually exhibited a booth, they were
also immediately closed down and evicted - and the persons actually
exhibiting were successfully prosecuted for slander and fraud.
As with most “strategies”
founded in deceit – there is
often an unintended
“backlash” against Sugar
Glider chat rooms and
message boards when they
engage in this type of
unethical activity.
In
fact, several of the event
promoters and coordinators
who we interviewed for this
article stated -
quite emphatically -
that they’ve found it’s
actually turned into a GOOD
thing when amateur
“activists” like this
attempt the kind of stunts
outlined above;
because the “buzz” actually
ends up creating free
publicity for the event
– which in turn often brings
out large numbers of
traditional “pet-lovers”
(which make up the vast
majority of the population)
who then come out to the
event specifically to see
the animals.
While some of the above
examples may seem outrageous
to an “innocent bystander”
just reading this article;
our 6+ month investigation
revealed that they are
“standard practice” for
Sugar Glider chat rooms and
message boards.
In fact, as
previously stated, when one
investigates a SERIES of
situations like this –
(which we did during the
course of researching this
article) – one quickly finds
a very recognizable
“pattern” where: 1) not only
are there no VERIFIABLE
facts to back up any of the
claims these individuals
make, but 2) even more
importantly there is a much
darker UNTOLD story behind
what is really going on
here…
In reality, once we were
well into our research of
this article, it became
painfully obvious that:
1)
the prestige of being
“looked up to” by others in
the “online community” – and
2)
hidden financial motives
were
– and are – the
two, TRUE driving motives
behind every Sugar Glider
chat room and message board
that we investigated.
Regardless of what these
seemingly “objective”
message boards and chat
rooms would like outsiders
to believe, when ALL the
true facts are brought out
into the light – the “bottom
line” is unavoidable.
In the
final analysis, the desire
to obtain respect and money
– (often coupled with a
pathological addiction to
the Internet) - are the REAL
foundation upon which these
chat rooms and message
boards operate.
As just ONE example of this,
during the course of our
investigation we uncovered
that it is very common for
the “core” members of these
sites, (usually the same
individuals who
routinely ”lead the
charge” when bashing other
resources) – to in fact be
SELLING THEIR OWN ANIMALS OR
PRODUCTS either directly –
or through other “assumed”
screen names - to other
unsuspecting members of
their “online community”.
In
other words, they are
directly competing - on a
monetary basis - with the
very SAME people they are
supposedly “objectively”
criticizing…
Invariably, at the center of
every chat room and message
board we investigated, we
discovered a “core group”
(again, usually consisting
of
between
4-12 individuals) who
had successfully created
their own anonymous
“internet world” where they:
1)
are essentially “royalty”,
2)
can be admired and exalted
above the crowd as Sugar
Glider “experts” by the new
or average member
(regardless of their actual
true qualifications),
3)
are free to viciously
criticize and slander anyone
who dares to challenge or
disagree with them, and
4)
often make a large amount of
money “behind the scenes”; selling both animals and
supplies either directly or
through assumed screen names
To provide a more clear
perspective on just how deep
these deceptions run, these
chat rooms and message
boards even regularly
deceive EACH OTHER for their
own personal financial gain.
For
example, one of the most
prominent Sugar Glider
websites (which appears near
the top of every Google™ or
Yahoo™ search) has claimed
for many YEARS now that they
ONLY sell “ sweet hand-tamed
joeys” to their customers
and other loyal members of
the Sugar Glider “online
community”.
They then go even
further, by promising their
loyal followers that they
would never, EVER
stoop-so-low as to sell
“mill-bred” animals.
This
same person then spends a
great deal of time behind
the scenes “smearing” other
persons/groups who
commercially breed or sell
Sugar Gliders – and actively
bashes so-called “glider
mills” as the root of all
evil…
All that being said, upon
researching this particular
matter in great detail, our
investigation uncovered that
for many years now, this
same individual actually
BUYS almost all their baby
gliders from one of the
largest so-called “glider
mills” in the country –
which is
coincidentally OWNED by
their SISTER (under a
married
name). Furthermore,
when their sister recently
sold the majority of her
operation to an even LARGER
commercial breeder – this
individual then continued to
SECRETLY buy their baby
Gliders from the VERY same
“glider mill” that she
publicly bashes both online
and verbally to everyone
else in the so-called
“online community”!
According to information
recovered by an independent
investigative agency (taken
directly from this person’s
own discarded notes,
shipping documents, and
financial records), as of
the date this report was
published, they are STILL
secretly buying babies from
this commercial breeder –
even though they vehemently
deny it.
All the while, for
many YEARS now this exalted,
so-called “leader” in the
Sugar Glider “online
community” has – IN FACT –
been going behind everyone’s
back and selling these SAME
(supposedly inferior)
“mill-bred” babies to
unsuspecting members of
their very own Sugar Glider
“family” who look up to –
and trust – her.
To put this deception and
extreme hypocrisy into a
little better perspective,
to THIS very day… whenever
somebody else sells animals
which come from the
commercial breeder mentioned
above, this “leader” often
describes them as:
“sick”, “too young”, and
“inbred”… However, when
THEY sell exactly the same
babies PURCHASED from
exactly the same breeder;
these animals
then somehow immediately
become “hand-raised”,
“tame”, and perfectly
healthy…
By their own admission, the
owner of this site makes a
VERY good living selling
animals and supplies each
year ….
and all the people
who have looked up to them –
and followed their advice to
the letter - for SO many
years have absolutely no
idea that in fact THEY are
actually the ones “being
fooled”.
The above example is just
one – not uncommon –
sampling of the extreme
deception and hypocrisy we
routinely uncovered in the
Sugar Glider “online
community” during our
extensive 6+ month
investigation.
Upon establishing close,
ongoing relationships with
several of these “core”
individuals from a number of
the more prominent chat
rooms and message boards, it
quickly became clear to our
investigators that (in
addition to having serious
problems with “honesty”), in
almost every case it appears
as though these people also
suffer from a condition
known as
Pathological Internet Use.
In their self-manufactured
“internet world”, this small
“core group” typically
spends the VAST MAJORITY of
every day and night GLUED to
their keyboards; entangled
in endless “soap opera” type
dramas that they have
created – and maliciously
sucking others into their
web of deceit.
In most cases, they
choose to live out their
lives in this “made-up”
world where they can: 1)
remain anonymous to the
masses, 2) claim purely
“altruistic motives”, and 3)
be “larger than life” while
sitting behind their
computer.
They choose all this,
rather than actually
engaging with REAL people in
REAL society; and building
meaningful face-to-face
relationships with their
friends and family.
As one final example of just
how dangerous and disturbing
the world of Sugar Glider
chat rooms and message
boards really is,
(and we uncovered many more
equally-disturbing instances
during the course of our 6+
month investigation),
one of our investigators
actually visited the
personal home of one of the
most prominent “leaders” in
the Sugar Glider “online
community”.
When our investigator
entered what – at first –
appeared to be a somewhat
normal-looking house on the
outside – they were shocked
to find (among many other
disturbing things inside
this residence) that every
wall, ceiling – and even
window – in the home had
been painted completely
black.
Additionally, during their
conversation, our
investigator learned that
this highly-respected
“elder” – who posts
regularly in nearly every
major online Sugar Glider
chat room and message board
– typically spends (by their
own admission) at least
14-18 hours a day posting
messages while huddled with
their computer under a
blanket, so that (quote):
“the light from the monitors
doesn’t hurt my
suggies
eyes”…
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