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Doug Spink 1971-2020

Lovecat

Lovecat

Tourist
Douglas Bryan LeConte-Spink passed away Thursday morning at his home in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Those of us who knew and collaborated with Doug are deeply pained by his loss. I certainly am. I only knew Doug in the final year of his life after reading Uniquely Dangerous, but in that short time I found him to be an amazing individual - caring and deeply compassionate, uncompromising and steadfast, courageous, generous with his support and encouragement, brilliant and hilariously funny. He spent his final year initiating and fostering the first zoo podcast in the world, working tirelessly to open an avenue for zoos to speak for and of ourselves in our own voices, and was not stopped by the pain and impairments of the aggressive cancer he was fighting. He fought it with everything he had, as was his way. He was defiant to the very end.

I only had the opportunity to meet him once in person, but it was an honor to do so, and I'm proud to call him my friend. We will continue your work, Doug, in gratitude, and carrying your spirit with us. Rest well, friend. You've earned it.

Namaste.
 
Ah, shit. So thats what your tweet was about, i already thought so. With him, we lost one of the loudest voices for the zoo community and zoo awareness. Some loved him, some hated him, but all that doesn't phase the incredible work and effort he put his soul and passion in. He will be missed tremendously, but he sure left a mark on this planet with his tremendous courage for all the zoos everywhere in the world.
 
Holy shit, Douglas Spink has passed away?

I'm sorry to hear that. Obviously I never knew him, but I've read about his life. Though opinion was divided on him, he certainly was bold.

Wow, he was young, that's unfortunate.

I wonder how many other pioneers out there are still alive...?
 
I was fortunate enough to have been able to have been able to talk with doug.

Truly doug loved the zoo community, and did all in his power to put our community interests forward in his life. That is worthy of our respect and for giving us advise through experience of how we should behave as a community. We had many conversations about his forum and this forum, and what is important to bring zoos together to solve our problems.

We are all imperfect, and we have made our mistakes. Doug wasn't any different but he didn't allow them to hinder what he wanted to do for all of us.

Truly, I will miss him. We lost a titan of knowledge and experience. We lost a fellow zoophile. We lost a friend.

Rest well fausty, may we meet again someday on the rainbow bridge.

?
 
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Wow... I suspected as much. I knew very little about him before the podcast, just random newspaper articles, podcast interviews, and rumors from internet trolls. Hearing him over the last year, warts and all, made it clear to me for the first time how much more there was to him than being the guy who got caught.

He was opinionated and argumentative and knowledgeable and fullhearted. I hope his work grows beyond him, as he took such pains to ensure.
 
I also knew him only indirectly the last 20 years, but know this is a huge loss to his friends and family. His passing is also a huge loss to the zoo community. Nobody has been a bigger focus for zoo activities and the issues we face than fausty - I will miss his overriding voice, especially on ZTT.

Rest in peace Fausty, as you never got to rest in life.
 
Wow... that is really a bummer. Like, REALLY a bummer. I recently finished reading Uniquely Dangerous a few months back, as well as listening to the ZTT podcast... I really felt like I knew Doug although I never had the chance to talk or meet with him. We had some exchanges in DMs on Twitter. He had some great things to say about one of my letters read on ZTT and I had hoped to maybe participate with him on ZTT at some point. It seemed like maybe he was winning against his health issues, so this comes as a shock. This really makes me sad. Definitely a hero of mine where being zoo is concerned.
Safe journey, Doug/Fausty. Maybe we'll meet in another life. I will miss your voice, experience and wisdom on ZTT. :(❤
 
Pillar said:
No disrespect here, but who was he?
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Douglas Spink, otherwise known as Fausty, was a zoosexual activist. He lived a solitary life with his dogs on his farm (relatively solitary) He was featured in a piece of investigative journalism, "Uniquely Dangerous", by Carreen Maloney. He was also featured in a VICE interview.

As for his personal life, apparently Spink was gay. He graduated from Reed College.

I have yet to read the book about him.
 
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He was also one of those ridiculously intelligent humans most of us could only hope to be. I'd love to know his IQ score, it would probably make most of us feel like morons.
 
A truly irreplaceable loss for zoo advocacy. I was always amazed by his courage, wit, tenacity, and humor in the face of all the turmoil he went through in life. I admired him greatly.

RIP Doug Spink. My condolences to his friends, family, and the ZTT team.
 
ferritlove said:
I also knew him only indirectly the last 20 years, but know this is a huge loss to his friends and family. His passing is also a huge loss to the zoo community. Nobody has been a bigger focus for zoo activities and the issues we face than fausty - I will miss his overriding voice, especially on ZTT.

Rest in peace Fausty, as you never got to rest in life.
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FAUSTY? Crap, I never put that and Doug's names together. I looked forward to reading his posts on Beast Forum as sunrays of sanity in our confused world. RIP Doug/Fausty. We are diminished by your passing.
 
Only knew of him from ZTT podcast and a little background research. Truly sorry for his passing. RIP someone who never gave up the fight in the face of adversity and overwhelming condemnation. Regardless of you're opinion of his life and views, you have to respect that. My heart goes out to Toggle and all those he left behind.
 
Hostler said:
While I don't agree with having a felon represent the zoo community, I will say my condolences and leave it at that.
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We all make poor choices in life. That's how we learn. Doug made a choice to smuggle drugs and got busted. The "bestiality farm" rap is a total sham. He was setup a bit for that raid by some people in his life that had monetary interest in one of his horses. That said, I do agree the drug rap hurt his credibility with the anti-zoo bigots and related court battles where the raid on his home and animal family was concerned. It would have been much better for him as an advocate for zoophilia and bestiality if that cocaine thing hadn't happened. Such is life.
 
IHO said:
We all make poor choices in life. That's how we learn. Doug made a choice to smuggle drugs and got busted. The "bestiality farm" rap is a total sham. He was setup a bit for that raid by some people in his life that had monetary interest in one of his horses. That said, I do agree the drug rap hurt his credibility with the anti-zoo bigots and related court battles where the raid on his home and animal family was concerned. It would have been much better for him as an advocate for zoophilia and bestiality if that cocaine thing hadn't happened. Such is life.
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There's poor choices, then there's really poor choices. But, like I said, I will not comment on this matter any further.
 
IHO said:
That said, I do agree the drug rap hurt his credibility with the anti-zoo bigots and related court battles where the raid on his home and animal family was concerned. It would have been much better for him as an advocate for zoophilia and bestiality if that cocaine thing hadn't happened. Such is life.
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Even in the public sphere there was a lot more, more recently, IHO, but as Hostler did I'll say my condolences and leave it at that.
 
Doug had been pursuing a law degree at the time of his death, incidentally. I wish I could have seen him live long enough to complete it. He would have made a hell of a lawyer.

As it happens defended himself successfully in court in the ‘machete’ case irbyz thoughtfully linked above. That defense was not reported, but it was why he was able to work on investigating the infamous animal torture ring of Tim Amarosa and snake thing et al as well as start the podcast.
 
saddlebum66 said:
Apparently those singing his praises are not people who had contact with the guy. Fortunate people, I think. Spink MAY have done some good in the World, but I'm not convinced it outweighed the damage. That basically adds up to neutral. As someone above said, Such is Life.
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Thanks, we had extensive contact with the guy. And we're very fortunate, indeed, to have had him in our lives.
 
Lovecat said:
Douglas Bryan LeConte-Spink passed away Thursday morning at his home in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Those of us who knew and collaborated with Doug are deeply pained by his loss. I certainly am. I only knew Doug in the final year of his life after reading Uniquely Dangerous, but in that short time I found him to be an amazing individual - caring and deeply compassionate, uncompromising and steadfast, courageous, generous with his support and encouragement, brilliant and hilariously funny. He spent his final year initiating and fostering the first zoo podcast in the world, working tirelessly to open an avenue for zoos to speak for and of ourselves in our own voices, and was not stopped by the pain and impairments of the aggressive cancer he was fighting. He fought it with everything he had, as was his way. He was defiant to the very end.

I only had the opportunity to meet him once in person, but it was an honor to do so, and I'm proud to call him my friend. We will continue your work, Doug, in gratitude, and carrying your spirit with us. Rest well, friend. You've earned it.

Namaste.
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I wasn't sure who I was reading about at first but I love the podcast. This is really sad. I never heard about any of the stuff before that but from what I knew he was a great guy. People make mistakes, and people can change. I wish we had more time, I would have liked to meet him.
 
Oh my, I was just visiting the forum a found the notification on the top.... things looked to be going well at where I am on ztt podcast. So much to learn with him, what a great lost for the world...
 
Lovecat said:
Douglas Bryan LeConte-Spink passed away Thursday morning at his home in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Those of us who knew and collaborated with Doug are deeply pained by his loss. I certainly am. I only knew Doug in the final year of his life after reading Uniquely Dangerous, but in that short time I found him to be an amazing individual - caring and deeply compassionate, uncompromising and steadfast, courageous, generous with his support and encouragement, brilliant and hilariously funny. He spent his final year initiating and fostering the first zoo podcast in the world, working tirelessly to open an avenue for zoos to speak for and of ourselves in our own voices, and was not stopped by the pain and impairments of the aggressive cancer he was fighting. He fought it with everything he had, as was his way. He was defiant to the very end.

I only had the opportunity to meet him once in person, but it was an honor to do so, and I'm proud to call him my friend. We will continue your work, Doug, in gratitude, and carrying your spirit with us. Rest well, friend. You've earned it.

Namaste.
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he apparently ran a bestiality farm after retiring from a cocaine operation.. I dont know if I can respect that in all honesty

Edit: alright, i understand it was a lie spread by news now. No need for the anger lol
 
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