Satire Essay On Breeding Animals

Throughout every human’s life in the United States, there will portably come a time when they take a trip to an aquarium or zoo. Do not get me wrong; it is incredible to see all those beautiful creatures up close and personal, but most people do not realize what actually is going on. Typically, when the day is spent at the zoo or aquarium, the day usually follows a schedule like this: You spend the day roaming the grounds, moving from habitat to habitat, break for lunch, and then once you’ve seen everything you want to see you return home and are free to do whatever you want to do. The harsh reality of these places is that while it is cool to spend the day there, you would never want to spend your entire life there. The animals are taken from

their homes and instead of spending the day at the zoo, they spend their whole life there. There are so many adverse effects and problems centered around animal captivity, including mental, emotional, and physical problems.
The confinement of animals has been around for a very long time, dating back to the Romans who held animal’s captive for the purpose of using them in the games. They kept groups of animals at each coliseum and would kill them for fun, once one animal was hunted and killed they would bring out another. A zoo can be described as some sort of public park in which animals are displayed for the purpose of education or entertainment. The first zoos in which we based our current captivity system on were founded in “Vienna, Madrid, and Paris in the eighteenth century and London and Berlin in the nineteenth century.” The first American zoos were founded in the 1870’s and were located in Philadelphia and Cincinnati. Over time, zoos have spread out all across the world and have become very abundant within the United States.
While it is wonderful to see these animals up close and personal, there is no justification for it. Being taken from their home, put in an entirely different environment, and being put in a cage for the rest of your life is not something that can be deemed morally sound. Zoos, aquariums, and other places that house animals for education or amusement should not be funded or supported. Captivity of animals causes emotional and physical problems; there is no justification for continually breeding these animals to treat them like show ponies.
Breeding is a large concern in the fight against animal captivity.

“For many wildlife biologists and conservationists, breeding and conservation-oriented research on captive wildlife are seen as essential activities that should not be halted on the basis of animal welfare and animal rights objections. The ethical imperative to save threatened species from further decline and extinction in the wild has for them a priority over concerns regarding individual animal welfare.” By breeding animals that are in captivity, these animals give birth to their offspring that are then raised in captivity, even if the breeding works these animals will never be able to return to the wild because they will not be able to fend for themselves. Lack of diversity within DNA in captivity is also a large issue. By breeding animals in captivity that have very similar DNA, you create inbred animals which, in most species, have an “infant mortality rate among inbred animals of 100%.” Another issue with breeding is that the DNA will change from what the animals have that are born in the wild, these animals have different traits that are not at all similar to the same animal that is bred in captivity. The largest issue is that many zoos advocate that they are in business to save the animals and are doing so by breeding, but they are only breeding animals that do not need help. We should be supporting “large scale breeding centers rather than conventional zoos, most of which have neither the staff nor the facilities to run successful breeding

programs.”
Many zoos claim that the reason they exist is for the education of the public. They leave little information packets and have information boards at each exhibit, but how many people actually read them? When people go to the zoo, they don’t spend enough time at each exhibit to actually get to know the animals. Most zoos make no real effort to try and educate the public, leaving a short education biography on the animal in the corner of an exhibit without anyone to explain the material does nothing. Unless someone is giving you a tour and telling you the information about the animal, most will spend time taking pictures of the animal, and once they are bored, they leave. For the sake of an argument, let us say that the zoos do present educational benefits. What exactly do the people learn when they go to the zoo? Most of the information that is learned by watching and observing the animals is not correct. Captive animals do not portray the same behaviors and characteristics of wild animals. Is this enough education to justify the capture of these animals? “Couldn't most of the educational benefits of zoos be obtained by presenting films, slides, lectures and so forth? Indeed, couldn't most of the important educational objectives better be achieved by exhibiting empty cages with explanations of why they are empty?” The fact of the matter is that while it is great to see these animals in person, the educational aspect of zoos could very well be done without the capture and confinement of these animals. More education could be done by a presentation on these animals rather than showing a version of the animal that does not act the same as it would if it were wild.
Finally, these captured animals are treated as sources of amusement. The animals are put in cages for the purpose of our viewing and in some cases, they are even trained and used to perform unnatural acts for us. SeaWorld and circuses are guilty of training animals to perform for our satisfaction and money, and they force the animals to perform for food. These animals are put in high-pressure situations day in and day out in which they provide entertainment for tourists and humans all around the world. Capturing these creatures and forcing them to perform causes emotional and mental problems, sometimes resulting in animals lashing out and injuring, or even killing, their trainers. There is nothing natural about an animal jumping through a hoop that is in flames, or forcing an animal to do flips and spins for treats. “Animals aren’t actors, spectacles to imprison and gawk at, or circus clowns. Yet thousands of these animals are forced to perform silly, confusing tricks under the threat of physical punishment; are carted across the country in cramped and stuffy boxcars or semi-truck trailers; are kept chained or caged in barren, boring, and filthy enclosures; and are separated from their families and friends—all for the sake of human “entertainment.” Many of these animals even pay with their lives.” By transporting animals all over the country, exposing them to many different environments very quickly, it can cause illness. Besides the physical illnesses, the animals go insane. The term “Zoochosis” has been created and is used to describe when a captive animal goes mad. The characteristics include things such as pacing, walking in circles, swaying, over grooming, and even self-mutilation. In the news, you see articles about captive animals killing humans, but this should be no surprise. By confining them to cages and taking away the stimulation that they would receive in the wild, they become mentally insane and lash out. In 2010, a whale by the name of Tilikum killed its trainer. Tilikum had a past of aggression, killing a trainer in 1997 and 1999, but was still used in performances at SeaWorld. This shows that these creatures are under so much stress that they go insane and become killing machines. Put yourself in these animal’s situation, would you still be sane if you were held in a small enclosure, stuck while people stare at you every day, and there is no way for you to leave? Putting yourself in these animal’s situation changes the entire perspective of captivity.
How do we solve the issue of animal captivity? It is very simple. Most people argue that if we just release them into the wild, they will be killed. This is true, which is why you do not completely leave them to fend for themselves. First, we must realize that the animals that are held in captivity currently cannot be set completely free, they cannot last on their own. We open reservations and sanctuaries for these animals in which they are continued to be cared for but not to the extent that occurred in the zoos. We end the capturing of animals in the wild and let the animals that are currently in captivity live out their lives in safety, allowing them to do as they please under the watchful eye of humans. By doing so, the animals can still feel as though they are free, but they are not confined in small cages anymore. By ending captivity, we end a period in which man felt the need to feel inferior and control an entire species for our entertainment and enjoyment.
Zoos are finally seeing the error of their ways because the media is exposing their wrongdoings. Zoos are “becoming more naturalistic in environment, focusing on more on species preservation and scientific research and less on entertainment. Zoos in the future, at least better ones, will increasingly become more like parks.” We have a long and hard journey ahead, but this is a light at the end of the tunnel. Humanity can still learn about these beautiful creatures without having to put them in cages. In America, the bald eagle is a sign of our freedom, isn’t it ironic that we are taking away its freedom?