Dear Editor,
I was very
disappointed with your March 9 article, “San Diegans Shocked by Circus at Giza
Zoo.” As someone who is currently planning a trip to
this spring, I can confidently say that I will not be visiting the Giza Zoo or
any other location where animals are taken out of their natural habitats only
to serve as cheap entertainment for paying customers.
While their enclosures may seem spacious to us, it’s
important to remember that elephants and other animals normally roam up to 50
miles per day in the wild. Contrast that with the space measured by the square
foot they allow animals to live their lives in the zoo, and there is simply no
justification for such tight confinement.
Regardless of whether animals are being slaughtered for
food, or exploited for entertainment in the circus, any time that animals are
treated as objects for our amusement, they suffer immensely.
Zoos teach children that it is acceptable to capture wild
animals (often by killing their mothers), separate them from their families and
homes and confine them to small cages. This is certainly not the kind of lesson
a person of any age should be taught.
If we are to be a civilized society, it is imperative that
we stop viewing and disregarding animals as if they were inanimate objects, and
start respecting the fact that they have needs.
Being killed for our food and clothing or being held captive
for entertainment value is no way to live, and we have an obligation to hold
ourselves to a higher standard. For more information on how to help animals in
your daily life, visit www.peta2.com.
— Ryan Huling
College Campaign Coordinator, peta2.com
