Langley Advance

Animal welfare: Zoo doesn't deserve positive stories

Dear Editor,

It is shocking that, after so many deaths and tragedies at the Greater Vancouver Zoo, your paper manages to write a positive article about it [Zoo thanks loyal visitors, Sept. 29, Langley Advance].

Why do we continue to deny the animals at the zoo freedom? For education? There are many educational resources available that don't involve animals. The Internet, books, and humane education programs in schools are all great ways of learning to respect and appreciate animals with our needing to view them.

Furthermore, animals in captivity behave a lot differently and exist in very different environments than they would in nature.

A child's ability to learn without seeing is best demonstrated in the knowledge that most children have about dinosaurs, they know vast amounts about them, yet no child has actually seen one.

The animals at the Greater Vancouver Zoo yearn for freedom; they are wild animals with wild instincts.

As a responsible and compassionate society, we cannot continue to hide this shameful form of entertainment behind a veil of education.

Giving the Greater Vancouver Zoo your dollars only helps further a cruel industry.

Ashley Fruno, Cloverdale

published on 10/06/2006