fendoffthedemons:

flowerbeast:

fendoffthedemons:

Okay, I get this. I do. I really do. And yes, there are places that keep their animals in unacceptable enclosures. 

But if we didn’t have zoos, wild animal parks, etc., how will kids, especially city kids, know that the animals they read about in books are real?

Do you see what I’m getting at? If there are no zoos, then our only knowledge about animals comes from books. Often, zoos and animal parks have science programs designed to help us as humans learn more about these animals. Yes, that can be done in the wild, too. There’s no doubt about that. 

I have to be honest, a lot of people who are activists have this unrealistic view of the world. 

When I was a kid, I didn’t realize African animals were real until I saw them in the animal kingdom at Disneyworld. 

Isn’t that worse? Nobody believing that animals exist?

Okay. That is utterly ridiculous. So basically, by your logic, we need zoos because kids won’t believe animals exist otherwise? There we go. Humans believing that animals were put here for our benefit. No. They exist for themselves. Don’t try to tell me that a zebra or a giraffe or a tiger wouldn’t be much happier in its NATURAL habitat than some shitty, dirty, tiny cage. 

So please don’t tell me it’s unrealistic to let animals exist in their natural habitats.

it’s unrealistic to think that the animals that we imprison in zoos for the name of science and education are actually happy.

Have you ever been to a zoo?

I have never seen a captive animal in a “shitty, tiny cage”. I’ve been all over the world, and I have never come across this. I’ve been to Disneyworld, Disneyland, The San Diego Zoo, Out of Africa Wild Animal Park, York’s Wild Kingdom and others. And I’ve been to a zoo in Guatemala. None of those had bad conditions. None. 

And I know you’re going to say that my idea of bad conditions must be wrong because I don’t agree with you. But you know, I’ve seen bad conditions. The cage they kept my dog in before I adopted him, that was a shitty, tiny cage. 

Besides, animals live longer in captivity than they do in the wild, because people aren’t fucking killing them. 

And there are species that wouldn’t exist right now if we hadn’t kept a number of them captive while we tried to bring the species back from the brink of extinction. 

I never said that animals were put here for human benefit. I said that we need to be educated about animals. 

I’m sorry you couldn’t grasp the fact that I literally am incapable of understanding things I can’t see myself. 

You can think that’s me being an ass but I know a lot of people who literally cannot control that. Because they are on the autism spectrum.

I’m not saying animals are here for the benefit of people. Animals and people should be looked at equally. But I am saying that animals are not above people. 

Does that clear things up for you?

“Animals and people should be looked at equally.”

you may say that, but that isn’t what you mean. If you truly believed that with all of your being you wouldn’t be all gung ho about zoos. I’m sorry, but animals DON’T WANT TO BE IN CAPTIVITY. Their natural habitats are exponentially larger than their cages. And yes, I have been to a zoo. And I can tell you that a tiger probably needs more than say, half the size of a football field, to wander around in. 

And I’m sorry you can’t comprehend things without seeing them in person, I really am, but there’s still no justification for imprisoning animals. End of story.

fendoffthedemons:

Okay, I get this. I do. I really do. And yes, there are places that keep their animals in unacceptable enclosures. 

But if we didn’t have zoos, wild animal parks, etc., how will kids, especially city kids, know that the animals they read about in books are real?

Do you see what I’m getting at? If there are no zoos, then our only knowledge about animals comes from books. Often, zoos and animal parks have science programs designed to help us as humans learn more about these animals. Yes, that can be done in the wild, too. There’s no doubt about that. 

I have to be honest, a lot of people who are activists have this unrealistic view of the world. 

When I was a kid, I didn’t realize African animals were real until I saw them in the animal kingdom at Disneyworld. 

Isn’t that worse? Nobody believing that animals exist?

Okay. That is utterly ridiculous. So basically, by your logic, we need zoos because kids won’t believe animals exist otherwise? There we go. Humans believing that animals were put here for our benefit. No. They exist for themselves. Don’t try to tell me that a zebra or a giraffe or a tiger wouldn’t be much happier in its NATURAL habitat than some shitty, dirty, tiny cage. 

So please don’t tell me it’s unrealistic to let animals exist in their natural habitats.

it’s unrealistic to think that the animals that we imprison in zoos for the name of science and education are actually happy.

(via quoilecanard)