Why Zoos are Unethical (Old Blogpost)

My Mom's Trip to the Zoo

My mom is not a vegetarian, but she is considering becoming vegan. A while ago, I received a text message from her about her trip to the Los Angeles Zoo with her client and his classmates. She said that the animals were crammed together, they received no space and the giraffes did not have room to run. She was asked by the teacher if she enjoyed the zoo and she told her she did when she really didn't.

My mom wanted to know why people treat animals the way they do and I couldn't help but think about my college experience learning about why societies all over the world object women's bodies. It is the same reason why human beings do not have respect for the planets or other species on it. I told her that the western world believes that animals are objects and are for our use to do what we please with them. I also told her that only people in so-called advanced societies believe this. This is why factory farms are allowed to treat animals as objects without feelings just so Joe and his family can have a steak, or a chicken bake on their table for six o'cock dinner.

Earlier this evening ( It's April 13th), I watched a video of one of the Youtubers that I'm subscribed to. He responded to a video made by a philosophy professor about veganism. This Youtuber is against veganism. He came up with the same arguments that were supposed to look they were not. He said toward the end of his video that if an alien species saw humans and how they domesticated animals, it would be impressed by us. I disagree with that. The typical male way of thinking about the world and it's environment is how nature can be molded and shaped and sculpted to suit the needs of humanity. The zoos and factory farming are two of many examples of this.

2014 Update:

My beliefs about zoos or other places where animals are used for our enjoyment have not changed. A little over a month ago a zoo in Belgium had a giraffe that gave birth. The baby giraffe was killed in front of the children, disected and given to the lions for food. Words cannot express how disgusted I was when I read that. Anger is not a strong enough word to describe how I felt. I know that I can't save the planet or its innocent bystanders of humanity's distruction. However, I can be one less person by not bring children into this world, reducing my carbon footprint and not supporting establishments that support animal cruelty and abuse.