In Dita Wickins-Drazilovás article, “Zoo Animal Welfare” published to the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics in 2006, she discusses the criteria that zoos claim justifies the welfare of the animals and how this criterion is not satisfactory. Wickins-Drazilovás states, “Zoos often claim that having healthy, long-lived animals that reproduce is sufficient proof of good care. I believe that these three criteria have to be examined more closely and also that there are other important criteria of zoo animal welfare: natural and abnormal behavior, freedom and choice, and dignity.” The physical health of captive animals will without a doubt be better than the health of the animals in the wild. They are provided with veterinary care and pain killers.
…show more content…
With the population being so dense in zoos, the transmission of viruses and diseases from humans to the animals, even among the animals themselves, is very fast. Primates often get colds, influenza, tuberculosis, or measles. When they are treated for such illnesses, it is incredibly difficult for keepers to tell how the animal is responding to treatment. They also suffer from injuries that are specific to their environments. The enclosures that contain these animals are much smaller than they deserve and can be unstable. Defenders of zoos claim that this is justified though because they are provided with food, shelter, and the safety from predators. She argues by saying, “…animals in nature don’t move around their territories only for food and survival. Their bodies are made for traveling, and preventing them from movement causes sever amounts of distress.” Wickins-Drazilovás questions if the animals have dignity. They are being kept in cages and being stared at. Much like the mental asylums that existed in the 18th and 19th centuries. Like the modern zoo, patients were chained and put on show to entertain the
With the population being so dense in zoos, the transmission of viruses and diseases from humans to the animals, even among the animals themselves, is very fast. Primates often get colds, influenza, tuberculosis, or measles. When they are treated for such illnesses, it is incredibly difficult for keepers to tell how the animal is responding to treatment. They also suffer from injuries that are specific to their environments. The enclosures that contain these animals are much smaller than they deserve and can be unstable. Defenders of zoos claim that this is justified though because they are provided with food, shelter, and the safety from predators. She argues by saying, “…animals in nature don’t move around their territories only for food and survival. Their bodies are made for traveling, and preventing them from movement causes sever amounts of distress.” Wickins-Drazilovás questions if the animals have dignity. They are being kept in cages and being stared at. Much like the mental asylums that existed in the 18th and 19th centuries. Like the modern zoo, patients were chained and put on show to entertain the