Kinda cool. I know its fairly new, since im sure used bold not too long ago here. What else are those pesky mods doing behind our backs? :)

"Offisa, yeah, I did something wrong, but others are doing wrong too..."

Honestly, would this community please stop relying on this old and worn out "tu quoque" decoy throwing? It´s the same with pointing out the atrocities in the meat industry to a person opposed to zoophilia...sounds good, doesn´t work. Just because there are other ethical problems, it won´t nullify our ethical problems.

I surely am not siding with commercial breeders here, but let me just throw in a few of my thoughts: Breeders are responsible for all the different breeds; without them, there would be no "Danes" , no " Hannoverians" , there would be no distinctive differences in dogs, horses and many other domesticised animals. Genetic diseases would spread unhindered among the species as there is no corrective to recognise them and weed them out by selective breeding. Breeding has a bad name in our community because when we talk about breeders, the common idea is of someone who relentlessly "produces" animals for profit. But that´s only a small part of the entire breeder scene, for example in horse breeding, there are way more amateur breeders and private persons who don´t force a mare to have a foal in every year of her life, for her entire life. Don´t get me wrong, though...I´m aware that ruthless and careless breeders can be in every section of the breeding industry, amateurs and big "animal factories"...but the opposite is also true: there are both, amateur AND professional breeders who don´t turn down responsibilities and ethics. It really depends on the person(s) in charge, not on the profession or hobby of breeding animals.

Without the selective breeding of animals throughout tens of thousands of years, there would be not a single domesticated animal...and not enough for everyone to eat as breeding is what allowed mankind to turn some random weeds into what we all rely on today, grain, rice, berries, apples etc... Without selective breeding, you wouldn´t fuck your dogs, you would be lacerated be them instead because they never would have lost their basic predator/wolf nature. Without selective breeding, there would be not one horse you could safely handle (and before the "cowboys" in here throw in the "Wild Mustangs", well, the horse was brought by the Europeans, already domesticated), let alone even ride, there would be not enough milk and meat as cows and pigs were selectively bred for exactly that, producing more milk and more edible meat per individual. You´re "in love" with a specific breed? Well, thank the "reckless breeders", without them, there would be no breed X you´re "in love with"...

What I finally want to add: breeding is not despicable and vile per se, I´ve met a lot of breeders, both amateur and pro, during my career; have I met vicious assholes? Yes, a few clearly showed that it´s only about the money and not about the animals in the slightest. Not all of them were pro breeders with their own "animal factory". And I´ve met very caring persons who breed responsibly and with the highest ethical standards, also both in the amateur AND professional sector. And before someone brings it up, yes , I am aware of things like hip dysplasia in German Sheperds...but there´s a reason in calling this "overbreeding". Quite ironic that exactly genetic predispositions and illnesses make breeding vital for the specific breeds´ survival...

Just a last thing to add: It may surprise some, but although I do subscribe to SCP´s point regarding zoo exclusivity, I am also aware that many go through an orientation phase in their puberty. Supported by our modern "openness" towards sexual adventurous escapades, the supermarket mentality of "Well, today, I´ll pick this and tomorrow , I´ll try out another one of a different brand", I can see how quickly things can happen. I´m willing to make a compromise here and say that you can also be a zoo exclusive when your "human adventures" were nothing but a shortlived phase of "trying out". And before you, SCP, jump in and accuse me of any sexual experience with the furless monkeys, well, no, I don´t have any of that and will never have in my entire life.But you should know how powerful groupthink and expectations from society can be; a weaker mind, especially when in the very volatile phase of puberty, may not be so strong mentally, may not be so drawn to getting insight in his/her inner feelings BEFORE he/she acts... What I´m trying to say is that there is some chance to have minor sexual experiences with humans and still be somehow "zoo exclusive", even though I would prefer your interpretation of that term to be widely accepted and not challenged. The "society of free fucks" sadly is a reality today and the so called "sexual revolution" hasn´t made it easier in any way for a teenager to determine his/her sexuality. The "just try out stuff" mentality has become widely spread, as you can witness even in here, and things have become more and more complicated. When I imagine growing up today, within this oversexualised society, with all of these easily accessable porn portals, with all of the pornographisation our society has undergone in the last two decades, I surely would have been a zoo, but I wouldn´t bet my life that I would not have fallen for the vast "possibilities" our "modern" world offers today, with sexuality presominantly seen as a simple good, an urge that needs to be satisfied. Just look at how unbelieving most people react when they´re confronted with so called asexuals for the first time. It isn´t just a coincidence that all of this happened after the Soviet Union collapsed...capitalism had no opponent anymore and thus, no need to be the "morally superior system" anymore. What we´re experiencing today is nothing else than the state of decadence, physical and moral decay. What I´m saying is that we cannot close our eyes from the signs of the times, the zeitgeist. I too would prefer another zeitgeist, one that would make all this online crap obsolete, because every person can freely talk about this special orientation without any fear. I would prefer it if our "system" would support teenagers in their quest for their sexual personality with clemency, understanding and help instead of leaving them hanging in this empty space. Guidance towards developing a charactre that thinks first before he/she fucks, guidance towards a non-commercialised sexuality, guidance to safely sail the Scylla and Charybdis, to sail safe between total celibacy and unhinged promiscuity. As I see it, the so called sexual revolution just exchanged the churches´dogma with another dogma, namely that of the porn industry. Humans are quite dumb and need lots of time to correct mistakes they made, just look at the smartphone generation that is totally fine with living the life of a cellphone zombie , but hardly can climb a tree or do a somersault. The same goes for this sexual liberation thing, yes, it might look like a good idea in the beginning, but the dire consequences are inevitable. Look at the divorce rates since the internet came rushing into mankind´s sexuality like a Shinkansen at top speed...Fact is, things are deteriorating, but hardly anyone notices, although it´s no surprise for me that it is exactly our recent times that create the revival of religion and conservativism...it´s the natural countermomentum of a development that has obviously gone astray and gotten out of hand.

I digress...but in this regard, I´d say I am willing to make the compromise and say that people who went through a temporary, shortlived orientation phase that includes some degree of sexual experience with humans can too be real zoo exclusives when they quickly turned down the "furless monkey option". What I don´t include in this is when someone experiences longer "furless monkey phases", are enjoying it in any way, deem "exclusive" as a term that describes phases (like, "I was non exclusive zoo for three years, then I went through two years of zoo exclusivity, then I met this guy/gal and became a non exclusive again etc...)...Technically, you´re absolute right in saying that even a single incident nullifies the exclusivity and I am absolutely with you, but I cannot deny the fact that our world is pumping teenagers so full of bullshit to keep them from resisting the supermarket mentality in a very volatile phase of their life. We should adapt to life´s reality, at least some tiny little bit, don´t you think?

The discussion of the definitions has been raging since I was new in the mid 90's and hasn't abated since. It comes in surges when some dolt thinks they're better than everyone else and starts denigrating people they know very little about.

Ah god damn, I'm confused, what's this discussion; why do we have to struggle together? :|

I understand, I've been zoo since I have memory, I know for certain I'm not the only one as apparently I'm so obvious that people come out to me and at the same time that I have a zoodar or something, I've met 2 zoos irl, one in denial, the other the bad kind you'd want to keep animals away from; my oldest friends is zoo; and I have a lot of zoo contacts (which I sometimes talk to). I know that I'm not alone for certain, it's just being single hurts and there are no groups you can ask for highly specific advice or something as that would be too much out of your privacy thanks to the ilegality of things; I know so little about my future, I don't feel in control, and I'm too scared to just not find love as getting a dog is not guaranteed to be the same as getting a partner. That would only hurt me more.

I don't feel it as abnormal either, I just "don't know what to do anymore".

Just because we use some words differently even if we want the same things?

It becomes relevant when people start excluding and "shaming" others based on a category related to a word choice which has no objective foundation.

I had seen too many dead animals. For no purpose, just abandoned, I rescued many of them, found them in trash bins, just born, alive.

I just can't let my own to have to go through any of that, or anything similar, I give my food to my animals before me; I'll probably care too much, probably it's that deep connection that makes me see them as a potential partner, sigh, who knows?... I want them to be a free soul and spirit, let them run, and go around; but I'm just so scared, I want to cause no damage to him, and at the same time I'll be heartbroken if it just doesn't work between us.

Well by lack of knowledge I meant specifically in the zoo side of things, I'm used to animals in certain sense; and I actually used to study them, not at a vet level, but at a quite a good level in a laboratory, including animal behavior; but in the zoo side of things, it's another story, zoology studies are not the same as trying to pursue a sexual relationship, it helps to know all the parasites and behavior patterns, but it doesn't really give you an idea on how it is to approach a relationship. I've also managed lots of animals, including feral, or even small wild animals, but it's just not the sort of experience that will help you to have this sort of relationships.

I've found usually animals respect me, it doesn't matter if it's a feral cat angry at anyone, or a herd of angry dogs that are attacking people they'll keep their distance; this is good for some animals because they see me as a benevolent authoritative figure, but what I want with a partner is just different, I want to be able to expose myself, and still feel safe without having to be tough, the thing is I've always been harsh and acted strong. This duality could fuck things up, he could either only wish the authoritative benevolent figure instead and not wish my weaker side that just wants to feel safe and warm in between his fur. I don't know, I have never had the experience to do that.

I would not foster animals temporarily like that, I could just so that my partner has friends, but no for the purposes of really satisfying that void.

Thanks for your input, I think the real problem here is that I'm scared, and that I don't have a level of stability I'd wish to have.