this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2025
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Maybe don't keep animals captive if you need to petition people bring their pets for food. Wtf. Zoos are a mistake.
WTF is this take. It's not that they can't afford food, they're trying to keep their food supply more ethical.
Zoos shouldn't even exist, they're inherently unethical. Asking people to donate family members they don't want to have them killed for food is insanity.
Pets get put to sleep ALL the time, for a wide variety of reasons. The zoo is offering a chance to make the death more meaningful and contribute something back. If it's not for you, that's fine, but there's no reason to shit on it. It will benefit others, and nobody loses from it.
I used to very much feel that way. I was incensed that we'd keep animals in tiny boxes, which must be existentially destructive to the psyches of these creatures.
Recent visits to moderns zoos and conservatories have shown me that zoology has seriously evolved from when I was younger. I'm not trying to say you shouldn't feel the way you do, just maybe take a look at what they're up to now, I think the underlying approach has changed for the better.
I'm know there are still lots of for-profit zoos around the world, however, that treat the creatures like hell. And in that case I don't defend that even remotely. That's where I'd be in total agreement with your sentiment.
Zoos serve a purpose it lets the public see the animals. And yes that has a positive benefit. If people don't see them they don't care about them.
Good thing people care enough to be fine with holding them captive so people can gawk at them then.
Zoos are the reason many species survive today. Conservation, breeding, and awareness programs and the such have saved species of every type on every continent.
Or like, we could vote to preserve nature without needing to gawk at a piece of it?
We can. Be honest, I estimate the odds of such a vote passing at roughly 0%. Most people just don't care. To get them to care, you'd have to have an organisation handling awareness and outreach and... oh look, we've got a zoo.