[Gpdd] MISC: zoo situation

[Ruth Leibowitz]

At the risk of many on this list not liking what I have to say, I would like 
to present another way of looking at the zoo-reptile situation.  Let's say 
the zoo keeper wrote back and said, "OK, we will no longer use guinea pigs 
to feed the reptiles."  Then what animal would take the place of the guinea 
pigs?  Would it be chickens, rats, rabbits, etc.?  Is a bird, such as a 
chicken, more deserving of being fed to an alligator than a guinea pig --- 
why?  Does a chicken not also have a will to live?  Are there people who 
don't also raise chickens and other fowl as pets?  How many on this 
list-serve are pure vegetarians?  I would bet that most of us are not.  For 
those of you who aren't, I wonder if you can explain why the fish, chicken, 
or cow that you eat deserved to be killed for your culinary enjoyment more 
so than any other species that exists on the earth?  All species have their 
own beauty and a tremendous will to remain alive.

I am not defending the practice of feeding guinea pigs to reptiles at a zoo, 
and I adore these animals as much as anyone else on this list.  I am only 
making the point that to me the situation is not black and white, and that 
there are other more complex issues at hand.  As long as zoos exist 
carnivores within them will need to be fed other animals.   Perhaps the 
deeper issue is should zoos exist at all?  Because if they do, the 
carnivores in them will indeed have to be fed one species or another.  In 
fact, should animals even be used as pets?  Guinea pigs were domesticated 
from South America where their relatives still live in the wild.  Do humans 
have the right to domesticate animals at all? My guinea pigs give me 
tremendous pleasure and I love them dearly, but part of me is sad that their 
ancestors were captured and that they and their relatives are part of a pet 
trade that leaves them very vulnerable to members of my own species.  In 
effect, as a human I inadvertently benefit from the ensnarement of their 
species in a pet trade they never agreed to be a part of.  My piggies are 
"lucky" in the sense that they live with me and I respect and take good care 
of them.  But many of their cousins raised to be pets are not so lucky.   
One could argue that we are not contributing to the pet trade if we don't 
buy from pet stores and only adopt piggies from rescues.  But then what 
happens to the piggies who languish in cages in pet stores because they 
reach adulthood and no one wants them?  This is what happened to my dear 
piggy Babu Franklin, who I bought "on sale" from a pet store because he was 
already an adult and no-one had bought him.  I wonder what would have 
happened to him if someone like me hadn't come along willing to take him off 
their hands?  He was all alone in a tank, and was clearly so very sad and 
shy.  Yet in giving this deserving piggy a home, I also lent more support to 
the pet trade.

I don't have answers to these questions/issues, I just propose them because 
I do believe these issues are very complex, so I post them for what they are 
worth.

_________________________________________________________________
The average US Credit Score is 675. The cost to see yours: $0 by Experian. 
http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=660600&bcd=EMAILFOOTERAVERAGE