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.
Ahh yes, the classic tiger meal - euthanized Yorkshire terrier.
Seeing as they specifically mentioned rabbit, chicken or guinea pig... You might want to check the breeding cert on that terrier of yours.
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.
This is an outdated take. Modern zoos play important roles in species preservation. Also public outreach and perception does wonders for conservation efforts worldwide.
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.
If you're American or Canadian or Australian (maybe others?) the secret is to make sure you visit "Accredited" zoos and aquariums.
They have regular inspections and assessments to ensure they meet Requirments for enclosure space sizes and maintenance and cleanliness quality, behaviour and mental enrichment for the animals (of which this would be something, providing natural prey instead of ground meat), health checks and veterinary care, documentation of all of the above, etc.
If somewhere isn't accredited is risky as to whether or not the animals are properly cared for.
It is AZA in America, CAZA in Canada, and AAZA in Australia. There may be others for other countries but those are the ones I'm familiar with.
(Source: former zookeeper, AZA)
We are in the for-profit zoos
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.
An unfortunate reality.
OK, please do that, then we can talk about shutting down zoos. When do you expect to be done with your little project?
Yup. Im not a fan of anything being kept as a pet that needs to be fed live things. It takes the whole "survival of the fittest" out of it. Breeding mice to feed to snakes, poor mice never stand a chance. And that is some bullshit. Snake catches the mouse in the wild, thats fair game. But breeding them just to be eaten alive??? Thats fucking vile.
Responsible snake owners don't feed their snak live mice
Who's feeding anything live in this discussion?