by [email protected]
Perhaps for as long as man has conceived of
entertainment, he has included wild animals. Whatever aspect of
entertainment, be it keeping wild animals as pets, training them for
movies or for live entertainment, or wearing them as a fashion
statement, man has had an ongoing love affair with the idea of bending
wild animals to his will. For purposes of this article, "wild animals"
refers to an animal that is of a non-domesticated species.
In the pet industry we have a lively and often
devastating trade in exotic, wild animals. Many species are bred in
captivity, but others, including snakes, lizards, turtles, or other
small exotic pets, are still taken from the wild. Even those born in
captivity are not domesticated animals, they are merely captive.
They are sold as pets, often without much guidance to
the prospective owner. Relatively inexpensive, they are often seen as a
disposable item. Anoles, for instance, are sold for about a dollar each.
Hundreds of thousands of kids have or have had them. And hundreds of
thousands of anoles die in small glass cages from ignorant abuse and
neglect. Parents buy them as a "great starter pet," but when the kid
moves on to some other interest, it is often weeks before Mom finds the
starved and lifeless body
caked to the side of his tank, his dinner just out of reach beside the
cage.
In a world where even domesticated dogs and cats, who
are supposedly beloved family members, are rarely given the care they
need, where they go without shots, worming or quality food, exotics have
even less chance of being cared for adequately. You can buy dog and cat
food in the grocery store, but they rarely carry foods for exotic pets.
Your local vet is well equipped to care for and recognize problems in
your dog or cat, but most know little about exotics. And how many people
are willing to foot even the cost of an office call on a $1 pet?
Laws regarding exotic species as pets, if they exist at
all, speak only to minimal housing requirements. They may specify how
HIGH the fence has to be but rarely say anything about the knowledge an
owner must have. They address safety issues for the public, but rarely
for the animals themselves.
Animals used in other entertainment industries may or
may not fare any better. Non-domesticated animals are often not suited
to life in confinement. Take a zebra for example. They are becoming
popular as pets and have always been popular in backyard and private
zoos. Many zebras die in
captivity because they break their necks running into walls or fences.
They do not understand solid barriers. There is no such thing in their
native world. A tree can be gone around. A row of bushes, the closest
thing to a wall, can be run through. But a brick wall cannot, and they
are often killed in the capture or confinement that human ownership
entails.
Wild animals in the movie business are simply no longer
needed, if indeed they ever were. The dinosaurs of Jurassic Park or the
gorilla in Mighty Joe Young were realistic enough for the most
discerning viewer. The state of CGI (computer generated imagery)
improves daily and is at a point where there is no longer any reason to
keep wild animals captive in order to feature them in film.
The live entertainment industry is oft times much worse.
Circus or nightclub performances stress wild animals and trivialize what
these animals are. They are not performers. They are not human
charicatures to be lined up in clothes with guitars in hand, mimicking
humans. No matter how well they
are cared for, no matter how many generations have been captively
breeding, wild animals remain undomesticated and should be respected for
the wild and free beings they are and must remain.
Perhaps the most devastating use of wild animals for our
pleasure, is that of fashion. One does not have to be told of the
countless lives lived in cages and eventually lost so that humans can
enjoy wearing their skins. These are often animals that are unsuited to
a life of confinement. A hundred generations of captive bred animals
have yet to domesticate them because it is not in their nature to be
domesticated.
They should not be pets, they should not be performers,
they should not be clothing, and they certainly should not be a source
of income. Many, if not most, people find it abhorrent for someone to
breed dogs solely in order to make money, to keep them in a situation
that is counter to their nature solely in order to rake in profits. But
that is exactly what exotic animal breeders do. Most exotics are sold to
anyone who can pay. Most are not bred with any thought in mind to the
preservation of the species, its genetic health, or the individual
animal's health, safety or needs. Snakes are kept in shoe boxes, fish in
brandy snifters, turtles in fish tanks, zebras in corrals, and tigers in
dog runs. These are animals whose genetics have geared them to survive
in the wild, to roam territories many hundreds or thousands of times
larger than that with which we provide them, to seek and catch a variety
of foods. We want them, so we take them. If they survive, we assume that
they are content. They may even live longer lives in captivity, but that
does not mean that they would chose this life if they could understand
the alternatives.
When they die, we throw them out and get another one. They are seen as
existing for our pleasure, but they are living beings quite apart from
us or our desires. They are entitled to their lives, without our
interference.
Go on to Transplanting
the Truth
Return to 11 March 2001 Issue
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