Opinion: The A in APH doesn't stand for 'Accessory', so stop exploiting your vulnerable

As a new African Pygmy Hedgehog owner, I'm constantly anxious. I want to give my spikey acorn baby the best, safest life that I can. Hell, he probably has a nicer bedroom than me.

Before I bought Crispin, I read up on absolutely everything I needed to know, and made sure everything I bought was safe and suitable for him. I still keep in touch with the breeder on a daily basis, asking ridiculous paranoid questions, just to be sure I don't turn the temperature dial 0.0001 degrees too hot. I can hardly begin to explain the freak out I had when I bought wet wipes I didn't realise were LIGHTLY SCENTED. I almost had an aneurism.

Now, like any basic 20-year-old, I indulge in Instagram frequently. I followed a few fellow hedgehog owners to learn as much as possible about how to provide the best care for Crispin. Unfortunately, this led me to discover the sickening exploitative world of (predominantly) Japan's APH Instagram scene.

Credit: Instagram

When you first see posts like this, you may think it's pretty damn adorable. However, upon closer inspection it's clear these animals are unhappy, and frightened by these bright photoshoots.

Ignorant, selfish owners have gained a vast following on social media through exploiting their naturally cautious pet, who gains nothing from the media traction. On a daily basis, they're squeezing the animals into restrictive costumes, posting them stuck in tubes or jars for a couple of likes, hearts and cry-laugh emojis from a relatively ignorant, misinformed fanbase.

Cutsie-fying the animal abuse of prey. Feels good to be alive and well in 2018.

I think we all need to remember the fact that African Pygmy hedgehogs are prey. They are naturally fearful of pretty much everything, and maybe, just maybe it's not the best idea to shove them into a flamingo hat and put them in front of a lit up tropical backdrop.

I mean, look at this screenshot from a popular APH Instagram account, and tell me this hedgehog is happy and safe.

Credit: Instagram

This hedgehog is practically suffocating in the container for this picture, but lets ignore that and post it with some cute cloud emojis and support further content like this. Now I don't speak Japanese, but I imagine the caption reads: 'Goddddd my pet is so cute. Watch it struggle to breathe'

In most of these images you can also see the hedgehogs have their quills sharply spiked outwards, signalling how uncomfortable and afraid they are to be in a strange, unfamiliar scenario with a camera pressed up to their face.

Credit: Instagram

Past hog-owner Chris Appleyard took care of his hedgehog Sebastian for 18 months, and adamantly stands against turning the exotic pets into Insta-celebs.

"I don't think it's right to turn what is essentially still very much an exotic wild animal into a celebrity, just for the sake of social media currency," he said. "The hedgehog has nothing to gain or benefit from in those pictures. Fame is irrelevant as it's just the vanity of the owner - it's not like those kinds of stylised photos are intended to raise any kind of awareness."

Chris also touches upon the idea that the exploitative measures are drastically similar to child beauty pageants. Young children who clearly hate the lights and attention are forced into the glitz and glamour by vain parents, and sadly this is similar to the Instagram accounts.

"They're just exploited as possessions so that the parents, and in this case, the hoggie owners, can feel self empowered and grow their own status."

Seasoned hedgehog owner and hobby breeder Toni also stands against the exploitation of the animals she's raised for years, and crazily she manages to avoid pimping them out for social media likes.

"Hedgehogs are nocturnal so their naturally prefer lower lighting and dark conditions, so a bright photoshoot isn't the best idea," She said. "If subjected to this constantly, the stress could really affect a hedgehog's health."

Photos of hedgehogs in ridiculous hats also frequently pop up on the Instagram feeds. The hats constrain the whiskers of the hedgehog, interfering with their senses. If I accidentally brush against the quills around Crispin's face, he hates me for the entirety of that day. I couldn't imagine giving him this much grief, just for a quick social media ego boost.

Toni says: "Whiskers are very important due to the poor eyesight hedgehogs have. Hats like these will be pretty restrictive."

The breeder also commented on the negative impact the images have on the reputation of APHs as pets. It is not only detrimental in terms of animal welfare, but the 'kawaii' posts export a warped, misconstrued image of what it's like to own a hedgehog.

"You see cute pics of them dressed up and posed, and as a result you could think they are an easy pet to have and handle," she says. "Totally unprepared folks are swayed by these photos then buy one, unaware of what it really means to own one. The novelty wears off, and the poor critters end up in rescues by the dozens."

Chris also adds:

"If I were to photograph Sebastian, or even have a social media account specifically for him, it would have been to showcase his natural behaviour, to help educate people who don't necessarily understand that hedgehogs require a lot of time and responsibility. They are not toy pets you can just accessorise and pose into cute-bait as some accounts would lead you to believe."

Is a swan hat and some virtual likes really worth it?

Credit: Instagram

Irritatingly enough, it's not just individual owners, and the blatant exploitation extends into popular businesses as well. In 2016, VICE wrote an article on a Japanese Hegehog Cafe, and how the viral hog-hotspot was actually incredibly detrimental to the animal's health and safety.

"The hedgehog I chose was brought over to me in a box and left in my lap. Each time I tried to pick it up, it would dodge my hands, darting around the box and cowering in the corners to avoid me. It did not seem to be having a good time."-Jamie Lee Curtis Taete, VICE

Despite the article citing the disapproval of professional sources, and confirming that the cafe was an ill-fitting space for the animals, 'living in empty tanks', and 'forcing them to socialize during daylight hours', the cafe, 'HARRY Roppongi' in Roppongi, Tokyo remains a popular staple of tourist attraction.

If it's not for cuteness, it's for comedy. You have other individuals taking photos and videos of their hedgehogs in paddling pools or struggling to turn over, something that comes across as especially cruel when the struggle could potentially be due to overfeeding or mobility difficulty. Take these delightful Youtube clips below, for example.

Credit for both clips: Youtube

It's also incredibly common to see 'adorable' snaps of hedgehogs getting themselves stuck in tubes or food packets, which may or many not have been cruelly orchestrated by the owners.

"It most likely got itself into that situation, and this shows the irresponsibility of the owner for allowing it access to something like that," Toni said. "If I came across my hog in that situation, my first thought would be to free it and make it feel safe again...not to snap a photo."

Credit: Instagram

However, the ignorance can go beyond Instagram aesthetics to a much more sinister level of cruelty. A lot of you may have seen the somewhat viral video that circulated Facebook a couple of weeks back, with a group of young male hedgehogs in shark costumes chasing each other in a circle. I was tagged in this a multitude of times, much to my dismay. Why was I upset? Because these hedgehogs are fighting (possibly even to the death) to win over a female. You can clearly see the inflicted injuries. Adding cute shark hats doesn't automatically make things better. Why would anyone want to film this?

Sadly this isn't the only notable case, according to Toni's findings.

"I've seen a lot of GIFs and videos that are sickening. People feeding them dairy, people doing cruel things... They think it's funny but it's not. These animals are prey, and are naturally so fearful. When put in unnatural situations like this, the hedgehog is truly fearing for its life, because it doesn't know what Instagram is or how long it will be in said situation."

For more information on how to actually take good care of your hedgehog, please visit http://hedgehogcare.org/, and avoid supporting these pretentious accounts.

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