Marielle's take on Circuses, Zoos, and Marine Mammal Parks

Zoos, pseudo-sanctuaries, marine parks, traveling zoos, roadside zoos, and other similar attractions imprison animals who long to be free in order to profit from the people who come to gawk.

The living conditions at these attractions are often dismal, with animals confined to tiny, filthy, barren enclosures, but even the best artificial environments can't come close to matching the space, diversity, and freedom that animals have in their natural habitats. This deprivation—combined with relentless boredom, loneliness, and sometimes even abuse from the people who are supposed to be caring for them—causes many captive animals to literally lose their minds. Animals with this condition, called "zoochosis," often rock, sway, or pace endlessly, and some even mutilate themselves.

Zoos claim to promote education, but the only thing to be learned at these sad facilities is how animals who want to be free act when they are confined. Zoochosis is so rampant that some zoos even resort to administering mood-altering drugs such as Prozac to address the public's complaints about abnormal behaviors.
Please see:
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/zoos-pseudo-sanctuaries.aspx
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/circuses.aspx

Category:

Education

Tags:

• circuses
• zoos
• marine mammal parks
• dolphins
• whales
• animal cruelty
• animal rights
• wildlife
• captivity
• veganism