Dolphin Touch Pools Essay
Some of the most memorable and entertaining animal encounters we may experience may also be the most unethical and cruel. In advocating for animal rights, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WSDS) and Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) investigated the humanity behind one of the most popular exotic animal and human interaction availabilities- touch pools. Through the combination of extensive research (which includes undercover first-hand observations and employee testimonies), slight emotional appeals, and the support of a scholarly background, the WCDS and HSUS were able to provide an adept analyzation on how the personal intimacy of dolphin touch pools poses potentially hazardous health risks for both the animal and human,
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Under “Petting Zoos: A threat to dolphin welfare”, the report comments on the activity of wild dolphins, saying they “sometimes... travel up to thousands of miles a day…” and that “the confinement of dolphins leads to psychological and physical stress.” (5). The parallels thicken to capture everything from feeding to health. For example, they explore the poor conditions captive dolphins are faced with, such as the promotion of obesity (it’s impossible to prevent visitors from giving the animals sandwiches, fries, and other junk food(6)) and the increased chance for injury (by the animals either harming each other in attempts to obtain fish, or visitors inhumanely reacting with the marine mammals). They report also examines how touch pools can harbor many diseases as thousands of people not only come in contact with slime and mucus covered animals, but they also transmit their own pathogens. Wild dolphins, of course, don’t encounter this problem. By presenting their findings in a comparison method the authors actively establish pathos, logos, and ethos as the report isn’t from a biased standpoint but from a scientific
Under “Petting Zoos: A threat to dolphin welfare”, the report comments on the activity of wild dolphins, saying they “sometimes... travel up to thousands of miles a day…” and that “the confinement of dolphins leads to psychological and physical stress.” (5). The parallels thicken to capture everything from feeding to health. For example, they explore the poor conditions captive dolphins are faced with, such as the promotion of obesity (it’s impossible to prevent visitors from giving the animals sandwiches, fries, and other junk food(6)) and the increased chance for injury (by the animals either harming each other in attempts to obtain fish, or visitors inhumanely reacting with the marine mammals). They report also examines how touch pools can harbor many diseases as thousands of people not only come in contact with slime and mucus covered animals, but they also transmit their own pathogens. Wild dolphins, of course, don’t encounter this problem. By presenting their findings in a comparison method the authors actively establish pathos, logos, and ethos as the report isn’t from a biased standpoint but from a scientific