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Morality of Zoos

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Morality of Zoos
Almost each and every one of us has grown up with fond childhood memories of visiting the local zoo amongst family and friends. After all, where else can one see animals from all over the world in one place? In the midst of all the fun and enjoyment we have all experienced from zoos, we have failed to take into account the life of the things that we are so excited about seeing there – the animals. Each and every day, the animals enclosed in zoos for human entertainment are exposed to abuse, cruelty, and most importantly stress due to an unnatural living environment, creating a collection of unhappy animals. In this essay, I will also explore other examples of zoos in which animals are used for paid human entertainment such as circuses and aqua parks, where creatures like dolphins are dumped into a small glass pool and forced to perform tricks for merely human satisfaction. This essay will also explore acceptable forms of animal zoos; ones that are used solely for the purpose of breeding and conserving highly endangered species. While it is true that zoos can sometimes be beneficial, and used to aid animals in conservation and breeding, the sad reality is that zoos confine wild animals into tiny, artificial habitats and expose them to great amounts of stress, cruelty and abuse for the purpose of profit and human entertainment. For this reason, modern zoos are immoral and should only be allowed to exist if they are large-scale conservation centers used to aid in the preservation of endangered species.

Zoos have become a very hot topic of controversy in today’s world. It is common knowledge that zoos are not the natural habitats of animals. Animals around the world are held captive and kidnapped from their natural life for the duration of their lives solely for the purpose of our viewing pleasure. Zoos can be defined as “public parks, which display animals, primarily for the purposes of recreation or education,” (Jamieson, Dale). The first modern American zoos


Cited: "Animal Cruelty - Zoos." Vegan Peace. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. <http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/zoos.htm>. "BBC - Ethics - Animal Ethics: Animals for Entertainment." BBC. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/using/entertainment_1.shtml>. Birth, Accident Of. "Mortality as Morality." Microkhan by Brendan I. Koerner. 14 Aug. 2009. Web. 30 Oct. 2011. <http://www.microkhan.com/2009/08/14/mortality-as-morality/>. Jamieson, Dale. "Against Zoos." The Animal Rights Library. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. <http://www.animal-rights-library.com/texts-m/jamieson01.htm>. Kuehn, Bridget M. "Is It Ethical to Keep Animals in Zoos? - December 1, 2002." American Veterinary Medical Association. 1 Dec. 2002. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. <http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/dec02/021201d.asp>. Millar, Royce, and Cameron Houston. "Animal Rights and Wrongs - In Depth - Theage.com.au." The Age - Business, World & Breaking News | Melbourne, Australia. The Age, 19 Jan. 2008. Web. 30 Oct. 2011. <http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/animal-rights-and-wrongs/2008/01/18/1200620207184.html?page=fullpage>. Singer, Peter. "Let Wild Animals Be Wild | Peter Singer | Comment Is Free | Guardian.co.uk." Latest News, Sport and Comment from the Guardian | The Guardian. 8 Mar. 2010. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/mar/08/wild-animals-captivity-seaworld-orca>. "Zoos: Imprisonment or Preservation?" The Whyville Times. 4 July 2003. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. <http://j.whyville.net/smmk/whytimes/article?id=2941>.
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