The second perspective to assess are those who feel it is morally wrong to keep animals in zoos and aquaria: animal rights and welfare activists. These individuals do not visit zoos or aquaria by choice, and may even openly protest them. Animal activists feel it is wrong to keep an animal enclosed in a cage. They feel it shows the public, especially young children, that keeping animals in cages for the duration of their life is an acceptable living condition (Lin, 2014). If children wish to learn about and see animals, they can view them in sanctuaries, which rescue injured and surplus animals, and on safari trips, which allow you to see animals in their wild environment. If a sanctuary or safari trip isn’t available, students can watch documentaries…show more content… Sanctuaries are meant to take care of old, disabled, or injured animals; that is what they are receiving funds for. Not only are they a permanent home for the animals, large animals like elephants have anywhere from thirty to two thousand acres of land to roam on (“Zoos vs. Sanctuaries – In Defense of Animals”). Zoos don’t have enough space for their animals to really move. In a study published December of 2007, it was found that the big cats spend most of their time on display sleeping (Bashaw, Kelling, Bloomsmith, Maple, 2007). When they were moved into larger sleeping quarters, they were more active because they had more space. This explains why many zoo visitors often see the animals lounging around. On top of having more room in their habitat, it is also more natural and like what they would have in the wild. Sanctuaries have staff available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they do not chain their animals as a safety measure (“Zoos vs. Sanctuaries – In Defense of Animals”). Sanctuaries are also funded completely by private donors and donations, whereas zoos and aquaria are funded by taxpayer dollars. Sanctuaries do not breed or sell their animals, so they don’t use that as a motivating factor to receive funds, and all animals get to live their full lives, instead of being euthanized because there isn’t enough room (“Zoos vs. Sanctuaries – In Defense of Animals”). Sanctuaries provide a large, natural, and constantly supervised area for animals, which is the preferred alternative to the man-made habitats provided in zoos and aquaria, while letting the animals live out their lives in a single
