I Hate Zoos!

[the last son]

I think its immoral and wrong to enslave and trap an animal, outside of its natural habitat. Don't give me the animal lives longer jive, I don't want to hear it. As much as I love sharks I will not lower myself to going to a zoo. I hate going to pet stores and seeing animals in cages so small they can barely turn around. I hate that humans own, dogs and animals as pets. My mother has a dog so I go get dog food for him. I would never put a leash on an animal or trap them into bring my friend so I will never have a pet. Humans just have to have power don't they?

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Im getting a Fennec Fox. I just found that they are legal to own in my state and i found a breeder a state over. Iv gotta save a little cash but i should have the little guy or gal by December. I havent started thinking of names yet. Maybe Pete for a guy and i kinda like Harley for a girl. Or maybe ill look up some African names as they are indigenous to north africa. That could be neat.

 

[jonathancrane]

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c[/YT]

Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Zoos are a great way to expose people to animals from around the world. Most people will never get the chance to see tigers, penguins, monkeys, etc. in person without zoos. They're educational and fun.

Dogs and cats? Where would they live and what would they do if they weren't pets? If they were all wild animals, they would just be food for predators and become endangered. Most of them stay in those small cages in pet stores and animal shelters until they're adopted by someone who will care for them individually in a bigger environment and save them from being euthanized.

 

[Wadaltmon]

And I hate it when people use an apostrophe to signify a plural noun, when really, there shouldn't be an apostrophe there. However, you don't see me starting a thread about it. Plus, zoos are a very large resource for people to learn about animals and biology. They also provide a fairly large and specialized job market for those who specialize in biology and the like studies.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Dogs and cats? Where would they live and what would they do if they weren't pets? If they were all wild animals, they would just be food for predators and become endangered. Most of them stay in those small cages in pet stores and animal shelters until they're adopted by someone who will care for them individually in a bigger environment and save them from being euthanized.

My sister and i have a little mixed dog that we adopted from someone so they wouldn't have to take her to the pound and there is no way in hell you could argue that she is better off or would be happier in the wild than in our home. That dog gets more love and attention than any human i know and she knows it too. She's not a pet, she's part of the family. And this is the case with most people that i know who own pets. The animal has a far better life as a "pet" than it does in the wild and its really stupid to try and argue otherwise.

 

[Lantern Venom]

I think its immoral and wrong to enslave and trap an animal, outside of its natural habitat. Don't give me the animal lives longer jive, I don't want to hear it. As much as I love sharks I will not lower myself to going to a zoo. I hate going to pet stores and seeing animals in cages so small they can barely turn around. I hate that humans own, dogs and animals as pets. My mother has a dog so I go get dog food for him. I would never put a leash on an animal or trap them into bring my friend so I will never have a pet. Humans just have to have power don't they?

Oy vey, you've listened to one too many PETA emo-explosions. If humans didn't caretake many kinds of animals, they would be snacks for predators or pavement-kabob for other animals.

If you're genuinely concerned about animals, put your time/effort into a spay & neuter clinic and/or shelter.

 

[redhawk23]

I think its immoral and wrong to enslave and trap an animal, outside of its natural habitat. Don't give me the animal lives longer jive, I don't want to hear it. As much as I love sharks I will not lower myself to going to a zoo. I hate going to pet stores and seeing animals in cages so small they can barely turn around. I hate that humans own, dogs and animals as pets. My mother has a dog so I go get dog food for him. I would never put a leash on an animal or trap them into bring my friend so I will never have a pet. Humans just have to have power don't they?

There are a lot of zoos that do important work in studying animals and working towards conservation efforts. There are many species for which zoos are their last hope against extinction.

Zoos can certainly be problematic, but there are also a lot of good zoos that are committed to the conservation of animal species and the education of the public.

Pet shops are a completely different matter.
Dogs only came into existence through their relationships with humans and many breeds wouldn't even exist or survive in the wild.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I think its immoral and wrong to enslave and trap an animal, outside of its natural habitat. Don't give me the animal lives longer jive, I don't want to hear it. As much as I love sharks I will not lower myself to going to a zoo. I hate going to pet stores and seeing animals in cages so small they can barely turn around. I hate that humans own, dogs and animals as pets. My mother has a dog so I go get dog food for him. I would never put a leash on an animal or trap them into bring my friend so I will never have a pet. Humans just have to have power don't they?

Last son starts thread. Does not want to hear other opinions.

I better go lock my dog into the street. Wouldn't want him to remain a slave at my puppy Auschwitz.

I also wonder if you're a vegetarian. I bet you have no trouble chomping down into a nice T-bone steak in between rants about how secretly unhappy your mom's tail-wagging pooch is.

 

[Thundercrack85]

My pets seem quite happy.

Though I am often alarmed by the way others treat theirs.

 

[Victarion]

So let me get this straight OP: You'd like to see those animals--raised in captivity--released back into the wild to satisfy your own selfish desires. Even though the animals raised in captivity would not likely survive in the wild.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

I will say Zoos make me really really sad. I don't really see why other people enjoy them.

Went to the zoo a few weeks ago. Most of the animals seemed to have gone mental in their small spaces, just repeating repetative motions over and over again like they are stuck on a loop.

The hippo looked the saddest... His tiny little bit of water he had to circle round and round in was an abomination.

There's a place quite near here that has a more of an 'open' zoo, in that the animals are in big fields and it's more of a safari park.

That doesn't seem as cruel.

But when the animals actually look unhappy and distressed and some of them are basically just trying to hide or get away from people, and that's how they are gonna live out the rest of their life...

Yeah, I just don't see the fun.

I walked out of the zoo feeling pretty depressed.

*cats and dogs are totally different: if they are treated well they are happy.

 

[Pink Ranger]

A very good documentary recently aired on Canadian television. Even though the focus was on a fairly local issue (the ethics of keeping elephants in Canadian zoos) later on in the piece, they uncover some rather unsettling facts about the network that zoos operate within.

Whether or not an individual zoo treats its animals with kindness or not, it is this zoo syndicate that often has formal and informal policies that do not serve the best interests of these animals. The documentary is in 4 pieces; it is quite interesting if you watch it all the way through.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I'm not arguing about your Zoo point, it's a fair point

But you jumped to pets and not the circus, if you want to mention an example of human superiority complex the circus is perfect to talk about, all the chores and whipping they force on animals already hunted and captured just for show

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I'm not arguing about your Zoo point, it's a fair point

But you jumped to pets and not the circus, if you want to mention an example of human superiority complex the circus is perfect to talk about, all the chores and whipping they force on animals already hunted and captured just for show

Seconded. Circuses are a valid point. Zoos are iffy. Depends on the zoo. Some zoos are terrible and cramped, while others are very humane and help keep endangered species from going extinct. But railing against domesticated animals like cats and dogs just makes you sound like someone too eager to get on their high-horse without having any information to back up your claims. lastson, you should have drawn the line at circuses and zoos, because now you just sound like a PETA nut (and you still haven't told us whether you're a vegetarian or not). I'm mentally filing this thread away with the other infamous, misguided threads of the last month, like "women go to hell for getting tattoos" or "Helen Mirren lies to terminal kid that she's the Queen." Some days it seems people start threads for the sake of starting threads and no real thought goes into it, except stirring a controversy.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

I'm not arguing about your Zoo point, it's a fair point

But you jumped to pets and not the circus, if you want to mention an example of human superiority complex the circus is perfect to talk about, all the chores and whipping they force on animals already hunted and captured just for show

Yea id agree with this. I cant really say i disagree with the OP about Zoos and definitely the circus, but trying to expand the argument to pets like dogs and cats was just really, really stupid.

 

[Ant-manic]

I think its immoral and wrong to enslave and trap an animal, outside of its natural habitat.

how do you feel about cubicles?

 

[SuperMike335!!]

Zoos are a great way to expose people to animals from around the world. Most people will never get the chance to see tigers, penguins, monkeys, etc. in person without zoos. They're educational and fun.

Dogs and cats? Where would they live and what would they do if they weren't pets? If they were all wild animals, they would just be food for predators and become endangered. Most of them stay in those small cages in pet stores and animal shelters until they're adopted by someone who will care for them individually in a bigger environment and save them from being euthanized.

That and some Zoos are used for the preservation of species that are endangered.

There is one near where I live where the animals have large enclosures the are designed to be as close to their natural environment as possible and the animals get regular activity to stimulate their minds and to keep them as happy and healthy as possible.

http://www.mnzoo.org/animals/animals_careEnrich.asp

Should this zoo be shut down too?

 

[DarkSovereignty]

I hate the homeless.

 

[Schlosser85]

I understand the necessity sometimes to breed an endangered species in captivity to prevent its extinction, but I'm not a big fan of zoos either.

The bears I've seen do nothing but endlessly pace from one end of their enclosure (which is insanely small compared to the vast territories they roam in the wild) to the other, all day long. You can't tell me they're happy.

 

[Immortalfire]

I've never seen so many concerned about an animal's supposed "happiness".

I seriously doubt they care, just as long as they're fed.

 

[the last son]

You don't gorillas would rather enjoy swinging through miles of vine, or a lion ruling the animal kingdom and leader of a pride, or a killer whale exploring the whole world instead of doing dumb tricks?

 

[NickNitro]

The only time I really accept the whole concept of a Zoo is if the species in endangered and are brought into captivity to preserve their species survival.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

I've never seen so many concerned about an animal's supposed "happiness".

I seriously doubt they care, just as long as they're fed.

I really don't think that's true. I think there is a clear difference between a happy and an unhappy animal, and that difference is so easy to see when they are enclosed in a small space...

I mean, we're not talking about happiness as we understand it neccesarily, but distress is definitely something animals can and do feel.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I've never seen so many concerned about an animal's supposed "happiness".

I seriously doubt they care, just as long as they're fed.

Depends on the animal. Animals like cows and chickens no, but apes, elephants, dolphins and dogs are definitely capable of emotional pain.