Jack Peng(499117306) Paul Simpson English Composition II March 21th, 2012 Why do I believe that animals should not

be kept in captivity? There are many forms of keeping animals in captivity; most of the reasons are for entertaining and getting profit from those poor animals. We can see different kinds of ways as capturing the animals. For example, zoos, aquariums, pet shops or even circuses are common to find that animals kept in captivity. Those places are all set up for human, innocent animals have no choice to live in captivity. In my opinion, I dont support to keep animals in it. The term zoo originated in 18th century and the first zoo appeared 300 years ago. At first, it mainly provided entertainment for nobility and satisfied peoples curiosity and acquisitiveness. Some people believe that zoos are inhumane and that animals should not be kept in captivity. They think animals should live in the wild, rather than in the cages. Some critics argue that animals that live in zoos are treated as voyeuristic objects rather than living creatures, and are often driven to insanity in the transition from being free and wild to incarcerated and dependent on humans for survival. It is truly a controversial issue, people have different viewpoints. Last time I went to the zoo was at the Christmas day last year. I saw various kinds of common animals, like zebras, lions, monkeys, tigers, horses, which I have known them since I was a child. Besides, I also visited several indoor and outdoor display areas which provided visitors to see some rare animals, like penguins, koalas, and pandas. After visiting around the zoo, I saw the staffs take very good care of the animals. Professional staffs prepare all kinds of foods and requirements for animals to live and grow up healthily. They dont have to acquire food by themselves because staffs feed them every day. Nevertheless, animals lose their freedom to change all of these. Animals have no enemy in the zoo, they lose their natural ability of hunting and foraging. Some scholars even say that to build up a zoo seems to become a commercial activity for people to believe it has educational and preservative functions. The environment which is given for the animals to stay in the zoo is artificial. The wild habitats are much more natural than the artificial ones. The ecosystem is set up to

maintain the quantity of animals and plants. If the animals stay in the zoo, they will lose the ability of nature because they dont stay in their own habitat. For example, if an animal is designed to catch fish as food, after staying in the zoo, it wont tend to catch the fish by its own because zoo keepers always feed it. The goal to educate children will be fallen from as well, as they can not see the most authentic side of natural animals. According to my experience of visiting the zoo, I saw many stores there, like convenience store, fast food restaurant, coffee shop, and stores which sell souvenirs. It is impossible to see those stores appear in wild animals habitats; they are just opened for human. Those shop owners earn money from customers by using the animals. Tourists spend money watching animals and having fun which makes them seem to become commodities. During the mating season of pandas, I see the news talking about panda which is one of the most popular animals in the zoo. It shows that zoo keepers research how to increase pandas success rate of being pregnant and make them be together in order to help them mate with each other. I think it breaks the natural rule of animals. They should court by themselves in the wild, not in the zoo. Extinct animals from the past were treated as pet from human as well. For instance, hunters catch baby Jaguar and feed them as a pet. Animals in extinction shouldnt stay in a man-made place and grow up in human world because they fit the wild, the place they come from. Recently, I saw ridiculous news on TV which talked about a man who has a giraffe as his pet. Giraffe is supposed to be in the wild, not for the man to feed and take care of. It is unusual to keep a giraffe at humans house. This action breaks the balance of natural world. The giraffe may lose its natural capability to survive in the world, and the captivity of giraffe probably leads to its death. Although the man thinks that he can take good care of his giraffe, he doesnt of the consequences. As a result, I assume that the action of keeping wild animals as pets is inhuman and unwise at all. Pet shop becomes popular in recent decades because some animals are really cute that makes people want to get one or more. It often exhibits the pets like little puppies and kitties for selling. Although the pet shops always offer hygienic care, cleaning service, the pets are usually kept in cages. The most inhuman thing is that the shop keepers will lock the newborn little gods in the same cage with small space for them to run and walk. Most of all, the puppies have to scramble the foods as soon as possible. Those who move with slow path may not get enough food for absorbing, which sometimes leads to disease or even death. Once I went to Shi-Lin night market, many pet shops sold variety of animals. I saw five little golden retrievers which were locked in the same cage. Some fancy rats ate their food in small cages. A crowd of fish swam in the aquarium.

As for the aquarium, a vivarium consisting of water-dwelling plants or animals, which is also an entertainment for human to appreciate the beauty of nature. Aquarium uses aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, turtles and aquatic plants. Water-dwelling plants and animals actually are difficult to breed and maintain. With the desire, human wants to explore the beauty of water where is totally different from land, and starts to build the aquarium, setting up a technical place for water-dwelling livings to stay. It is not natural to keep fish and aquatic creatures at all. They all come from the wild sea, ocean and river, they do not belong to an artificial place designed for them. It seems that pet shops, aquariums and zoos are in similar way of locking the animals. The only apparent difference zoos are bigger places. Keeping animals in the captivity can not only limit to zoos, pet shops and aquariums. Circus, a kind of entertaining group which provides diverse shows to audience, which included clowns, acrobats, and tight rope walkers. Despite all shows seem perfect, they presented by trained animals has become the most popular one. A variety of animals have historically been used in the circus acts, for instance big cats, elephants, birds, lions, bears, and even sea lions. The shows of animals become welcomed world wide. Animal welfare groups have argued many causes of animal cruelty in the training of performing circus animals. The animals are said to be physically abused because of the wrong method for training circus animals. Tamers always use electric shock prods, whips and hooks to train them. As circus is commonly a travelling company, performers have to travel around by the trucks. However, the trained animals are cooped in the trucks where they eat, drink and even pee and poop. The animal welfare group also doesnt agree on the method they treat to the animals, which is thought inhuman. Many countries have already restricted the use of animals in entertainment. Greece even became the first European country to ban any animal from performing shows in any circus in its territory in 2012. In conclusion, no matter zoos, pet shops, aquarium, or even peoples houses, they are all kind of captivity. Animals are equal to mankind. No one has the right to keep them in cages, coops and any other containers. God creates all kind of living lives in equal; human shouldnt break the balance of the natural system of the world. God creates all and loves all, therefore we should love all things and respect every livings as well. If the wild animals dont stay in their own habitats, they may lose their own abilities to fit the natural world. For instance, predation is a biological interaction where predators feed on their preys. Yet, keeping animals in captivity will deprive the animals of their instincts which means that they will be unable to plunder their preys. Furthermore, the animals that kept in captivity lose their freedom to remain in the wild world which makes their vitalities decline. Their energy will also be taken away

that may result in death and disease. Human are intelligent animals, we should know better that all kinds of living things are equal to mankind and avoid keeping animals in captivity to make the world better.