Interview with Zoocadia
So hi to all you zoos and zoo friendly sorts out there. Today HugDoggy, that's me, will be talking to the fine folks behind a new 18+ zoo site that came on the scene in December 2023 called Zoocadia.net. or ZCA for short. So come with me as we discover the hidden secrets behind this magical sounding land for zoos. Let's start by setting the scene.
Three dogs walk into a nondescript bar in downtown Zoocadia and take a seat at a table in the corner.
Now first things first, because an interview only works with someone to be interviewed, filling that role today we have: Two Brave dogs FloofyNewfie and Huskbernard who are Administrators on ZCA. The other staff Bloodwolf, Dane, Fox&theHounds and Octavian would have liked to have been with us today also but had crazy sounding excuses, things like needing to work to pay bills and the like.
"So boys the water bowl is over there," I say nodding towards the bar, "if you need to get a drink at any point. I've snuck the Zooey Dot Pub credit card out of Tarro's desk so all your water is covered by the mag today. Now let's wag a tail and get started.
"So Huskbernard what brought you all together and inspired you to create a new zoo website?"
Huskbernard: Well Hug, we started Zoocadia to have a true site for Zoophiles. Following the ZETA Principles, and to provide a welcoming environment for new and curious Zoos and non-zoos.
Glancing over at FloofyNewfie I note that the large Chocolate Newfoundland sitting across from me seemed to be raring to say something, and since I'm a sucker for cute floofy dogs how could I stop him.
FloofyNewfie: I think that's a good question.
"Why thank you" I say with a tail wag.
FloofyNewfie: It was several things really. I've been a staff member for another zoo forum since late 2020, and while I don't hate that site at all, I'm not blind to the many many MANY issues that it has with fetishism and the dumpster fire basically running wild out to every section of the forum. It's just problem after problem after problem. What brought all of us, the staff team at Zoocadia, together though... well... that would be friendship, but also a want for change in the "zoo community." I've known all of our staff members for years. Huskbernard here for 9 years, Octavian for 4 years, and the rest? Easily over 2 years, if not 3 years at this point. We're essentially a group of friends that share the same ideals and principles, such as the ZETA principles and fairness to all members, and decided to start a zoo forum. As we could see the issues of the biggest zoo forum currently on the net and figured we could do better than that; zoos deserve better than that. The good animal loving zoos out there deserve a good home, and we hope that Zoocadia will become just that... a better, less overall toxic, home for animal loving zoophiles.
"That really sounds like a noble and worthwhile goal," I respond.
So Floofy, how did the name Zoocadia come about and does it have any meaning behind it, are you all secretly wizards perhaps because to me it sounds like a very magical sounding name?
FloofyNewfie: Zoocadia is merely a combination of Zoo or Zoophile and Arcadia. There's been so many zoo spaces and forums that have come and gone, and we wanted something that would be unique, that would set us apart. Dane was the one that came up with the name. Let me just shoot him a message... But out of all the names pitched, that one received the most votes from the staff team here before the site's creation.
Bing!
FloofyNewfie: Ah! Dane says: "Long story short, I like Greek mythology. I was looking for a name similar to utopia, and thought of Arcadia. Arcadia was the realm of the Greek god Pan. It was a place in harmony with nature, which is something I think we can all appreciate. And furthermore, Pan was a half goat god. My first love was a beautiful Nubian goat, so this made the name a little bit more special to me."
I noticed you mentioned voting on the name. So is it true that the team votes on all the big decisions and actually asks the members what they want from the site to ensure the site is as democratic as possible when big changes are to occur?
FloofyNewfie: Well.. we don't put everything to a vote with the members, but we have had public votes before. For example, we let users vote on whether or not we should remove overly fetishistic posts/threads on here as we could easily see that being something that could irk even a lot of good people. The users voted, and pretty much all of them said... yeah, please remove them. That said, I believe a good idea is a good idea. If someone pitches something on the forum and I'm like "Hey yeah... that's not a bad idea at all, really!" I'll let them know that I'll bring it up with the other staff members of Zoocadia and from there we'll vote on whether or not we implement it on the forum. On the other hand, if a policy we have cannot hold up to scrutiny or causes more problems than it wishes to resolve, I have no qualms on ditching a bad policy either. We're not afraid of change. That being said, most of the "big" decisions are still ultimately decided by the staff team here.
Huskbernard: Most improvements end up happening at least within the same day, if not a day or so. We're a community. It shouldn't be a "My way, or the highway" type community.
So I take it from what you've said the management structure is pretty flat, so there's no big dog that barks orders to everyone else then?
Huskbernard: I believe our management structure is laid back. We go through and talk out certain things we may need some extra help on, or if something requires extra input from other staff members. We try not to run a "What 'I' say goes."
FloofyNewfie: Yeah, our management structure is pretty chill. While some mods/admin post more than others on the forum, everyone in the staff department is pretty much equals. When it comes to decisions we're unsure/undecided about, everyone gets exactly 1 vote. Even though I'm an admin here, if I pitch an idea, and I get outvoted via the majority... I get outvoted, and the idea doesn't come to fruition. Everyone has an equal voice and not one person exactly "runs the show and barks orders" over another.
As, like mentioned, we're basically just a group of friends running a zoo forum.
So it clearly helps you are all friends, but I would imagine each member of the team brings their own specific talents to the project, has it all come together like a well oiled machine or have there been challenges along the way?
FloofyNewfie: Indeed, you could definitely look at us that way. While Huskbernard and I basically do the role of "the IT department" and pretty much built the forum from a complete blank slate to what it is now, we did so with the input of all the staff members here. Every staff member, seeing that they are also friends, gets to have a voice and a vote on how things are run here. We're kind of fluid in a way with how we handle things, and everyone is encouraged to pitch ideas. Zoocadia wouldn't be Zoocadia without the good zoos that run it behind the scenes. Everyone has put in there share of work on here, as we all want to see it succeed!
Huskbernard: As for Challenges I think during our time before the start up it was finding hosting. Our worry mostly was with space, and the worry of being taken offline by the host. I've offered some space on my server, and added some protection to ensure no discovery of where the site is hosted.
I nod sagely. "Yes the threat of getting taken offline is a far too scary thing for a lot of zoo projects."
Now it is said a website is only as good as the people behind it. Who said that? Well, I just did, but when it comes to running a website for a community, I'm sure it must help if the staff have been part of the community for a while. So what are some of the other projects we might know you fine canines from in years gone by?
Huskbernard: There wasn't much that I've done for awhile, but I did once help with a couple of sites with some zoo friends in the past relating to zoophilia pictures, and Zoo Writer's Guild. Which I've been helping to keep running. Sadly, I believe the owner named Silverwolf may no longer be with us, and I've decided to keep letting it continue, with hopes I can get the site itself more improved and have a modern style board.
Huskbernard: I now am the owner of the zoophilia wiki (zoophilia.wiki). Not much has been done, until I've done various improvements to some articles, added navigation links in each section for a better user experience. I still hope to get more people interested, though I believe some still think someone else is running things, someone who causes others to avoid it altogether. However, I personally have recently been doing adds/edits/removals. The wiki is intended to be a resource for Zoophilia, its culture, and history, as well as recent research/surveys which some could have been lost if not for the Wayback Machine to gather that missing data and import it into the modern Wiki. I run a mastodon instance called zetaspace.org. Before, Quantum was trying to start a zoo site that was a social style site with a message board. Running on Wordpress. That went stagnant, and later I took the "myzetaspace" and turned it into zetaspace.org. Sign ups are approval based.
Tapping a claw tip on his muzzle FloofyNewfie pondered the question thoughtfully.
FloofyNewfie: Hmm... other projects... other projects... well let's see. I'm probably most recognized from my role as a moderator, later turned administrator, over on the other forum I alluded to earlier. That's probably where most will know me from, as I have over 4,500 posts on there, but I am my own being outside of that site, and hope most will realize that. I've also been involved with the Zoo WIKI project as well, although admittedly not very much at all. I've mostly done some tweaks and edits to grammar on there. I've also been involved with a couple of the academic zoophile studies over on the other forum as well, and have directly and indirectly shaped how questions were worded as well as adding lines of questions that someone from the outside trying to look in wouldn't be able to think of.
FloofyNewfie: Although to the other part of the question, I've indeed been a part of this community for a while. For about a decade now, actually. I pride myself on helping other zoos out with the vast amount of information located in my head from years of research and being a part of a community. I got my start finding a few zoos on furry communities. Eventually I started networking with fellow zoos on Skype, YIM, and AIM. Huskbernard and I ran a pretty large zoo group on Skype back in the day. While I signed up for BeastForum I probably didn't login more than 5 or 6 times before coming to the conclusion that it wasn't a website I wanted to inhabit. Instead, my first true presence in the wider "zoo community" was actually on the now defunct ZoophilesForum. On there, I really felt like I had a home, and met so many great people. It seemed like a humble home for the loving zoophile. That said, I don't want Zoocadia to basically be known as "ZoophilesForum 2 - Electric ζoogaloo" as the site was not perfect, and we want to be our own thing. I do feel we're WAY long overdue for an adult oriented zoo space for the loving zoophiles out there to inhabit, similar to what ZF was for many people.
Being involved in a site that is running 24/7 365 days a year, is it hard keeping on top of all the members needs from around the world? Do you have staff rostered on to handle different time zones, to ensure everything runs smoothly?
FloofyNewfie: Nah, things aren't too difficult at the moment, and most things are pretty smooth. Everybody is pretty chill and laid back. We probably only get 1 or 2 reports a week, and they're usually for pretty minor stuff. I also don't catch a whole lot of rule violating posts out in the wild, because most of the time there just aren't any. I think our "no personal ads allowed" rule gets violated the most, and they're pretty easy to spot and remove.
FloofyNewfie: Although, I will say that all the staff team here are based out of the United States of 'Merica. But, even with that being the case, many of us work odd shifts at our actual workplaces, so it's pretty rare for there to be no staff online for more than 3 hours at a time, really. Even in the late and early hours.
Let's get down to those all to obscene brass tacks. Running a site isn't always cheap. Do you have backing or work on donations? What keeps the doors open for a site like ZCA?
The Burmese Mountain Dog waved a paw towards his companion saying We don't have donations, but I may leave this question to Floofy.
FloofyNewfie: Yeah so as Huskbernard said, we don't have any current plans for donations for our site. If anything, we'd tell you to take whatever money you planned on donating to us, do a little research on some good charities that actually help animals, and encourage you to donate your funds there. Zoocadia is mainly a passion project between friends. As for where our funding comes from? Well... let's just say that if we need money, Octavian is... not poor in the slightest. *ha-ha* Being a passion project, he's said himself that he doesn't mind shovelling a small amount of his extra spending money towards keeping the lights on in this joint. While it might be a big cost for some, it's pennies, nickels, and dimes for him. Huskbernard lets us use his server, but should things get tight for him financially, we'll still be able to keep it alive with pretty much no problems.
Now for the big question. Raising one of my contrasting GSD eyebrows I begin looking between the two canines sitting opposite me. For all those horndog leg humpers from other parts of the internet who want to know. Do you have porn on the site and what sort of policies do you have in relation to it?
FloofyNewfie: Welp... if ya came for nothing but porn and meetin' n' boinkin' animals, you're going to be sorely disappointed. As not only is that not our vibe, personal ads are against our rules. Our bread and butter is the discussions, the sharing of ideas, chilling and playing forum games, and helping each other out with not only information related stuff, but each other. That's our vibe. Everyone is welcomed, though. You could definitely learn a thing or two about how much we care about our animal loved ones, and how the ZETA principles should be implemented, as long as you don't break any of our rules. The rules themselves are not very strict nor unreasonable, and most animal loving zoophiles have no issue with them at all. But if you only care about sex, sex, sex, and more sex as well as perving on women... ya gonna have a bad time on here. But hey... there's always another forum for that. Can you guess which one?
FloofyNewfie: As for porn specifically, like the other site I have admined on, it cannot be abusive, and pretty much all the same rules regarding "ethical content" on there, applies here. But, unlike many sites, any porn uploaded, excluding Drawn/3D/AI artwork, has to be created by the user themself. So you won't find commercialize porn on here, nor will you find the same old reposted content that's been floating around the net for decades. But, with that being the case, most of the porn on here is just pictures as good loving zoos feel more comfortable uploading that type of content than they do videos of themselves committing the crime of bestiality. While we have the option here, it's not the focus of the forum in the slightest. Porn doesn't show up in the "what's new" tab.
Huskbernard: We did that as those posts can sometimes take up the entire section, and other threads can go unnoticed which is not what we wanted. We also have an SFW media area, which is available to people right from the start; As you scroll down you will find the SFW media section before the NSFW media section, denoting the importance we give the two areas on the board.
FloofyNewfie: Our main stance was you have to be an actively participating member, post wise... not porn wise, on the forum to even unlock the porn section.
Huskbernard: That was absolutely a deliberate decision that we made, that the NSFW media section only be available for members that are being active on the site. New members need to have 12 posts, have been here for 2 days, and have a reaction ratio (post to reactions) of 0.5 to gain access to the NSFW media section. Part of my idea of having the NSFW media only available after a certain amount of time came from when I was a member of ZooBB around 2010-2011 and my time on ZoophilesForum after ZooBB went down. As it helps discourage those that are only coming for porn. Granted, you can't stop people from sharing porn everywhere. But you can slow them down to the point it's not worth it.
"So the porn section is on the bottom of the forum then?" I enquire.
Lapping at his water, Floofy replied with a shake of his large head. "No that would be the Controversial Zone."
Oh so what is the Controversial zone all about?
FloofyNewfie: Ah... The Controversial Zone. Basically it's a more free speech area of the forum for more controversial topics and subjects to be discussed. Anything from politics to dark/offensive humor and memes. While it's a more free speech area of the forum, it does have a few rules, as we don't tolerate user harassment nor do we tolerate the use of racial slurs. The reason we added it is because there's plenty of good animal loving zoos out there that do love posting in the dumpster fires of the internet. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't occasionally engage in dumpster fire discourse on other sites because a lot of interesting, but controversial, conversations happen on there. But with all that being said, we made it opt-in rather than just another normal section of the forum, because we know that not everyone wants to see it. We also want it to be contained in that one area, located at the very bottom of the forum to signify its importance... which... is at the bottom of everything else. I've literally seen dumpster fires drive good folks away from sites, because the user's mental health can't take it. By default, everyone is opted out of our Controversial Zone here, and that's quite on purpose. But for many, the dumpster fire is a good stress reliever to them, a place to blow off some steam. If a user wants it, they can have it. If a user doesn't want it, they don't have to be subjected to it either. They get a choice on the matter.
FloofyNewfie: That being said, while it's not a complete wasteland, the general sections of the forum are WAAAY more popular and utilized by everyone here. Our moderation style is fairly relaxed, so most things can be discussed out in the open as long as they follow the reasonable rules of the forum. Most people are pretty much free to be themselves on here.
Rumour has it, that ZCA is such a happy place to be, no one ever seems to seriously misbehave, and the need to ban a member is almost unheard of. What do you put this warm caring environment down to?
FloofyNewfie: Well... the forum means something unique to each individual. Overall, everyone is pretty chill on here though. I mean, on other sites you're pretty much outnumbered 10:1 by fetishists and leg-humpers, people that only see animals as a sex object or a sex toy, on here our rules kind of limit these people and makes these types of people, specifically, not want to hang around for too long. This, in itself, kind of fosters a happier and more relaxed environment. It's a place for loving zoos, ran by loving zoos. Nothing less, nothing more.
FloofyNewfie: But yeah, we don't have a lot of reasons to ban people here so far. That's not to say they don't happen, as a couple of people have gotten the boot for good reason, but it's not very often at all. Most people that get banned in other places are the same fetishists and leg-humpers that this site is designed to keep out.
So what are these badges all about, that are on some users profiles on ZCA, and how is it better than just the trophy points system which you share with other forum sites?
FloofyNewfie: Well, while I cannot speak for everyone, to me the badge system here is pretty much just a fun little quirky thing our forum does. But I can definitely see some users trying to collect as many badges as they can, and hey... that helps with engagement on the forum! Huskbernard here, was pretty much like, "hey, could we add this badge system add-on to the forum?"
Huskbernard: Yeah, I thought it may be a good idea to have something unique members can look forward to receiving and encourage more engagement. Some badges are automatic, while some are manually given.
FloofyNewfie: So after briefly discussing it, we were pretty much like "sure!" and I added it. Like most things, stuff gets done pretty quickly around here in the backend of things, as we're all pretty dedicated to the success of the forum.
Huskbernard, can you tell me what do you think sets ZCA apart from other sites?
Huskbernard: I believe it's been a long time coming to have an actual community space that is for the Zoo Community. We felt there should be something out there that is welcoming to new/curious people that are interested in the Zoo Community, as well as letting them know about the ZETA Principles.
"Well that could equally describe the ZooCommunity forum as well though," I counter.
Huskbernard: Ah yes, but because we are not a PG-13 site like ZooCommunity, we can allow conversations to go where ever they lead, without worrying about if something explicit enters the discussion provided everyone participating remains respectful.
Huskbernard: There is after all, always someone out there that is looking for a site to call home. Some may end up on another site as it's now basically the biggest zoo board, ours is not. However, on your first sign up over there, the porn section is visible, and also contains non-zoo porn. The dumpster fire being out in the open can, and quite often does bleed out into other areas. Conflicts end up happening, and users give up and leave. Leaving a bad impression this is what zoos are like. We hope to avoid these problems through our policies as we discussed earlier.
Huskbernard: Not that that one other site has been the only less than shining star out there over the years, personally for me, I can't say BF (BeastForum) wasn't exactly the same. I was only ever a lurker on BF as there was something about it that just wasn't calling home for me. Porn was basically the main focal point. That led me to keep searching for other boards in the past, that's when I found ZooBB. Something about it was giving a more welcoming environment. Later, I found ZoophilesForum, and that's where I met a few other Zoos, including Floofy.
Huskbernard: So that is the feel we were going for, we hope members find a welcoming home when they join ZCA. Porn is not a main focal point of ZCA. Thus NSFW media is only accessible after certain restrictions are met. and we don't have a personals section as porn and personals usually just bring in fakes, thus most of those sorts of people will not want to waste their time if they have to meet certain criteria to gain access to any to such things.
Huskbernard: Members are welcome to ask questions, and join in any discussion without the hassle of being belittled. Members are welcome to report what may be questionable, or just not sure on, and there's no retaliation when reporting. We were all new too Zoophilia once, our goal is to provide a helpful site full of resources to show they're not alone in this.
Ok Floofy, let me put you on the spot, why should people join ZCA?
FloofyNewfie: If you're looking for a place for loving zoophiles such as yourself, and don't like being outnumbered 10:1 by people that merely see animals as sex objects as well as only seeing bestiality as just a fetish, this is probably the site for you. Everyone's pretty chill here. and you likely won't get your head bitten off like often is the case elsewhere.
So what can people expect to find then, when they come to the site?
FloofyNewfie: Our bread and butter is conversations, information, a sense of community, as well as our fun, games, and entertainment sections. There's a bit of everything here. While we do have (albeit very limited) porn on here, it's not the main focus of the forum. In fact, if you click on "What's new" to view the most recent posts on the forum, the porn sections are purposefully omitted.
Where would you like to see the site in 5 or 10 years time?
FloofyNewfie: It's hard to say really... but just off the top of my head, I'd like for us to basically become the place for animal loving zoophiles to hang out at. It would be a shame if we fizzled out, a great shame, but I doubt I'm the only one that feels like they want a home with fellow animal loving zoophiles. Hopefully we'll be here, going strong, in 5 to 10 years in time. Only time will tell, as you have to remember that we've only been a site since the 8th of December, 2023.... so only around 3 months now. But in that time we've gotten over 500 members, 500 threads, and over 37,000 posts on the forum. So, things are looking VERY good for us thus far, but 6 months to a year from now will likely paint a better picture for where we'll stand for the foreseeable future.
Do you have any final thoughts or anything else you would like to share with the readers about Zoocadia?
FloofyNewfie: Nah, I think that pretty much covers it, but all this talking has made me work up a hunger, did you say something about having the company credit card?
"Yes I did..." I replied wondering just how much food would be needed to fill up a Newfoundland. "Were you after a steak or something?"
FloofyNewfie: I was actually thinking about pizza, it's the preferred food of Zoocadian citizens.
So dear readers, while I still have a job before Tarro gets the credit card statement, I hope you enjoyed learning about Zoocadia.net and the Zoos that created and run this new Zoo forum on the block. I've been a member myself for 2 months and quite enjoy the place. So why not check the site out and see if it's to your liking as well.
So till next time, stay safe out there and give your special 4 legger a hug from me, and don't forget to tell them they are amazing... Oh dog that Pizza smells heavenly! Roo Roo to you all.
Article written by HugDoggy, with FloofyNewfie and Huskbernard (March 2024)
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