This post is not about dogs or shelter animals, but instead about a very sad day for a lone Asian elephant at the LA Zoo. I will state here that I oppose zoos for all the reasons that anyone in their right mind opposes them. They are prisons to house wild animals for human amusement. The reason they are called wild animals is because they are not captive. Tigers that get out of their cages or confines and kill people are not to blame, the zoo and the people are.
Last week LA City voted about Billy, the lone elephant who lives at the LA Zoo. Their vote was based pure selfishness, Billy STAYS. Whether you are an animal lover or not, you've got to see that this is purely wrong. Elephants are roaming animals who suffer under captivity. Facts who that since the elephant exhibit opened 12 elephants have died. The program opened in 1968, and elephants live beyond 70 years in the wild. This is clear proof that these animals are not meant to be kept in captivity and that they suffer greatly.
Personally I do not understand the need for zoos nor do I like them. To see rows and rows of animals from various territories and climates all crammed together in a small park for humans to walk through and observe seems to be one of the cruelest things I can imagine. To what have we evolved as humans if only to place other animals in exhibits for us to observe? Do we have no respect for other living creatures but to remove them from their homes, transport them thousands of miles, build fake environments for them and look at them?
Furthermore, in our current financial environment more than $30 million is slated for the exhibit of one elephant. If this money was dedicated to our shelter system hundreds and thousands of animals that are in dire need could be saved. Instead LA City opts to confine the last elephant in pure misery.
It is a sad day for Billy, but yet a more shameful day for those who approve his imprisonment.
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2 comments:
It's fine for all of us to have our own opinions, but unfortunately, your opinion is based on lack of knowledge and ignorance. You said:
"To see rows and rows of animals from various territories and climates all crammed together in a small park for humans to walk through and observe seems to be one of the cruelest things I can imagine."
>> You obviously haven't been to a modern zoo lately! There are almost ZERO zoos remaining like what you are describing. There are no more "rows and rows" and no more "crammed together". Instead, they have spacious and natural habitats where the animals are loved, cared for, and protected. Unlike your misinformation, most zoo animals live LONGER than they would if still in the wild.
"To what have we evolved as humans if only to place other animals in exhibits for us to observe?"
>> You betray your BIAS with this quote. Many of us who are NOT ultra-leftists do not believe that humans have "evolved".
"Do we have no respect for other living creatures but to remove them from their homes, transport them thousands of miles, build fake environments for them and look at them?"
>> Actually, in the last 50 years, very, very few animals have been taken out of the wild for zoos. They are simply animals born to other zoo animals. I doubt if you are even familiar with the biblical story of Noah's Ark, but that is exactly what zoos are today! They are a means of protecting animals from extinction, which can be caused by the "flood waters" of poaching, pollution, and habitat destruction. The next time you see a buffalo (bison), thank a Zoo! Without zoos, they would already be extinct!
Sorry, but that LA City Council vote was a GLORIOUS day for Billy! It meant that he would get a great new home at the Los Angeles Zoo, where he is loved -- instead of going to Bob Barker's stupid "sanctuary", where he'd be forced to spend hours on a concrete floor at night, and he'd be isolated from others of his kind, preventing him from the natural instinct of mating and reproducing more zoo elephants.
Thank you for your comment, but unfortunately it is filled with ignorance and lies.
Its not for lack of information that I make my statements, but for lack of visiting establishments that I totally disagree with. Whether the animals are stacked next to each other or not, they are removed from their habitats for our enjoyment. As for my "misinformation..." I'm sorry, but you are wrong, animals in captivity do not live longer for any reason other than lack of being the prey of another animal or poachers. Buffalo's would have enjoyed a thriving life if humans had not forced them into virtual extinction, so if the point is to right our wrongs, perhaps we should think about what we are doing wrong presently instead of trying to right it in the future. Primates and elephants do not live longer lives in captivity, and certainly do NOT live happier lives.
Forgive me here for standing up for those that can not stand up for themselves, but the elephants in the LA Zoo have fared miserably. And, to make the statement that this is a GLORIOUS day for Billy, might be the most ignorant statement of your entire email. COnsidering that more than 10 elephants died in the period since the exhibit began is disgusting. Seeing that if the elephants were in the wild the first one would still be alive.
To consider me an ultra leftist is another misstatement, but as for the animals I am on their side. If I have a bias towards speaking out for the animals, then I am guilty of that. You however don't believe that humans have evolved, so you might still be rubbing sticks together to make fire. And for a species that has not "evolved" according to you where do you think the pollution and habitat destruction is coming from but from our evolution.
LA City Councils vote is a sad day for an animal that is a social animal that travels in herds in the wild but is now left completely alone so it can be put on display for idiots who have nothing better to do than go the the zoo and point their finger and say, "Look, that is an elephant." I equate the zoo to a prison for animals -- the only difference is the only crime they've committed is being born. I'm not sure of Bob Barkers sanctuary, but the Tennessee sanctuary for elephants is quite nice. If anyone thinks that an animal has a "natural instinct of mating and reproducing in zoos" again, you are sadly mistaken.
Robert Cabral
founder: Bound Angels
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