Arguments Against Animal Captivity

Introduction to my Project
Within my project I aim to discuss whether it is right to keep animals captive. In particular, if it is right to keep them captive for our entertainment. Animal captivity raises many important moral questions, which include questioning whether it is ever right to restrict animal’s liberty and if so, under what conditions? Furthermore, do human beings have the right to keep other animals captive? Are we the superior species and if so, why is this the case? I aim to discuss many of these questions in my project and from this try to come to my own answer on the matter by the end of my research. As a passionate animal lover, my fascination for this topic spiralled from recent speculation and negative alarming media rising …show more content…
Additionally, since animal captivity is so popular, I will also discuss the positive elements to see why it still goes on today. To help me reach an answer, I will use different philosophers and theories to work out if we are right to do this, or whether it is simply just morally wrong. Arguments against the use of animal captivity will include those from Peter Singer, Tom Regan, John Stuart Mill and Alasdair MacIntyre. Arguments for the use of animal captivity will include those from Immanuel Kant, Aristotle, Carl Cohen and Ernest Partridge. I will also share my results from the questionnaire I conducted and the interview I was lucky enough to have with the Zoo Manager at Flamingo Land to see if his outlook could show animal captivity from a different, possibly more positive light. I will conclude by sharing my own views on the topic and decide whether my research has altered my initial standpoint, which was that all forms of animal captivity are wrong. I suspect this will be the case for most people, as reading all the negative media surrounding the abuse and lack of animal welfare in wildlife parks makes it …show more content…
Animals still feel pain and suffering, like human beings do. It seems accurate to say that the animal cannot be blamed for the death and injury caused due to the unnecessary circumstances. This raises the question of how many deaths need to occur for animal captivity to be put to an end once and for all. The three case studies I have presented show animal captivity to be immoral and simply wrong. It is clear why my initial standpoint on the subject was to be completely against any form of animal captivity, which I assumed would be the case for most people after reading such horrible cases. Therefore, I will next present my findings after conducting a questionnaire to discover whether other people have the same opinion as