ANSWERS:

Rick, age 18: Hey John, thanks for your question! A lot of people do not realize what exactly goes on at circuses and in zoos, along with pet shop procedures. My opinions in the article revolve around my own opinions on what is abuse and what exactly animals have rights to. I believe that animals should always be considered as individuals and have their interests taken into account. In all of these cases, however, most of the time, people's desire for cheap entertainment and/or companionship comes before the true well-being of the animals and often their very lives.

It is well-documented, for example, that in a circus animals are beaten, whipped, and sometimes even burned to force them to perform. Circus animals travel in cramped conditions, and many are chained by the foot, despite an animal's interest to move about on their own. Elephants, for example, travel many many miles, yet chained at the foot they are given little more than a circus ring to roam. Animals in circuses were created for their own purposes and when people try to make them do things that is unnatural for them, often the only way to force them to perform is by terrifying them into doing so (thus, the use of the whips and other "tools".) For more specific information go to www.circuses.com.

Zoos are a tricky situation, and I do not claim to be an expert. I believe some zoos do some good work in cases of rescue and rehabilitation; however, in my experience, on the whole, zoos are built not for protecting animals or even educating the public but to make a profit. Even those who are in the zoo business because they love animals often fail to recognize that what the zoo is actually doing is good for no one but the people--certainly not the animals. We may like to look at the animals because we think they're pretty or interesting, but to animals, zoos are a prison. The animals are the unheard victims. They are either bred in captivity to endure lives behind bars and glass in areas that are a fraction of what they would have enjoyed otherwise; or they are stolen from their homes in the wild. Those who have visited zoos undoubtedly have seen animals pacing back and forth or banging bowls onto the ground out of sheer boredom. I have been to zoos that have claimed to have naural habitats for the animals, only to discover "natural" was a 15-foot cage for a flying bird, or a tiny island with a tree house for families of orangutans who otherwise would have had an entire jungle to enjoy. Videos, DVDs, and real-life safaris, in fact, provide a more accurate view of animals in the wild as they are not being subjected to the boredom and confusion they experience behind bars and glass, and living on cement.

Finally, perhaps the worst of the three are pet shops. I used to be an avid pet-owner and buyer as a lover of animals. However, this was before I looked at pet shops through the animal's point of view. In pet shops animals are bred with little attention to their own needs. Animals, to pet shops, are products, not living beings with interests and lives of their own. In the case of dogs, for instance, you may have heard of "puppy mills," the equivalent of factory farming for animals who are eaten. Take a look in your nearest pet store to see how little regard is given to the animals there. I realized that my desire to be with animals, for example, should not come before the animal's own well-being and rights. For an alternative to pet shops, animal shelters work to protect animals while at the same time allowing people to connect with animals face-to-face.

Thanks again for the question, John. I highly encourage you to educate yourself about these issues and decide for yourself what is right or wrong. For more information you might find the Animal Protection Institute (www.api4animals.org) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (www.peta.org) helpful as well as books on animal welfare and animal rights in your library or in bookstores. If you discover enough, consider writing an article for www.vegetarianteen.com or other websites and publications where you can share with others what you found.

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