China's Zoos: 'Asylums For Animals'

[oo 1]

If you are "human" you will probably find this video to be rather distressing:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOjMi9Obs8o

 

It makes me sick.

 

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Conditions in China's zoos and wildlife parks are a national disgrace, animal rights activists have told Sky News.

 

Live domestic animals are routinely fed to tigers and lions in the country's wildlife parks for the entertainment of visitors.

 

Zoos have been described as "insane asylums for animals."

 

For the last ten years animal campaigner Dr John Wederburn has been monitoring living conditions of the animals at zoos across China.

 

"There has been no improvement," he said.

 

I come back to the same zoo four or five years later and the same animals are still trapped in the same tiny cage.

 

 

[1 4]

If I am right in the wild those tigers are very hungry and would be killing their prey - which aren't cows - almost instantly. They're just playing on that.

 

Very sad and very annoying and impossible to understand how bus-loads of families find that acceptable, even highly enjoyable.

[oblivion 5]

Thanks for that oo. Awful seeing things like that. Did you see the part with the chicken that the guests had. Sick.

[muikabochi 208]

Nasty. What kind of sick mind finds that entertaining?

[Retired Morris Dancer 0]

It's on the main Japanese news right now...

 

Seems guests can "buy" the food (ie. live animal) to give to the tigers. There was a price list. Live chickens are 640 yen, live cows are over 20,000 yen. Showed a group of people with kids buying a sheep. When the sheep was being eaten the kid said "It looks like it hurt". Then another guy said that the animals are just food so it' ok.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

This is not suprising. Asia in genral seems to have a low regard for animal respect, despite historical Buddhist influences.

 

Actually come to think of it, the human population in general nowadays treats animals as walking (or swimming) food and entertainment, with little regard for the sacticity of life.

 

If you think that kind of thing is disgusting, you should check and see how the leather on your shoes and the KFC you had for lunch was produced.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Ever so slightly different, don't you think Oyuki - even if just for the fact that I am not at all revelling in the fact that an animal was cruelly killed as I wear my nice shoes and leather jacket.

[samurai 0]

the feeding didn't bother me. The draging behind the truck hit me. And the animals flipping tricks in the circus hit me as well.

 

When I worked at a fish cannery in Alaska, we butchered truck loads of fish, non-stop, 24 hours a day. And one day, a co-worker asked me; "Is it bad karma to be killing all these fish?" "I don't know. I hope not."

 

If you have ever been to a trout pond, where you catch fish from a stocked pool, watching them swarm your hook, are you as twisted as watching someone feed a chicken to tiger?

 

I have no idea. I just wonder where the line is drawn. Ever hooked live bait to catch a fish? Now fish only have a memory that lasts a few minutes, hence they keep getting re-caught. (and making fly-fishing guides rich, btw... in unstocked/natural rivers.)

 

Wow, that footaged raised many more questions that I assume will get brought up by others responding here... so I'll stop with mine; Where is the line drawn?

[Rag-Doll 0]

How about when the animal's death become the source of entertainment. You'd kind of think that people ought to stop before they get to that point.

 

A few years ago my wife and I were in Nimes in France watched some bull fights - the fair dinkum stick the animal with spears and stuff before finally killing it with a couple of jabs with the sword kind of bull fighting. It was appalling. A bit of blood sport doesn't both me but this was simply barbaric. Some people sitting in front of us had a couple of what looked like 5 yr olds with them. When the bull was standing on his last legs with blood gushing from mouth the little kids (quite naturally) became very distressed. Why would anyone subject their kids to that kind of brutality? It wasn’t long before we were barracking for the bull. I was really hoping that just once the picador would get unhorsed and gorged really badly.

 

In our defence, we thought we were paying to see inside a Roman amphitheatre and got the bull fight for free.

[soubriquet 0]

I think you're right about killing animals for entertainment being barbaric. When I lived on the farm I used to shoot a few rabbits and pigeons, but I wouldn't do it now. I actually like guns and shooting, but not the killing. I'll have to stick with clays.

[NutteyCubey 0]

I feel very sad and angry watching things like that. I cannot understand how people can sit there and laugh.

 

I also think it is bordering on ridiculous to compare what we see on that video to people wearing leather shoes.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

Well, watch some video and see how some of the animals (not all) are killed (sometimes beforehand) for leather.

 

Do a quick check and see where your leather was made. Chances are, it was from the same country as the video was filmed. Do you think that they are going to treat animals 'harvested' for their skin any better than the way they are treated in a circus?

 

Sit and be indignant at others for laughing, but be careful where your money goes.

 

a great documentary that covers the main ways man treats animals is called Earthlings. It used to be on google for a while, but was taken off. A search for it should turn up some kind of free vid, or if you have bitirrent, you and find it pretty easily.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

 Quote:

Sit and be indignant at others for laughing, but be careful where your money goes.

Oh ok.