PLEASE DON’T BUY PET FISH OR
BIRDS
Save our animals
7 Reasons why fish are really sad ‘pets’.
1. They are far more intelligent than you think!
2. They feel pain.
3. When you buy tropical fish, you could be
contributing to the extinction of a species.
4.Many “pet” fish were probably stolen from the wild.
5. They’re social animals who suffer in small tanks.
6. When you buy a freshwater fish, you support a
greedy industry:
Approximately 90 percent of these fish are raised on farms. Goldfish, for instance,
are usually bred in giant containers in facilities that produce as many as 250 million
fish per year. Tropical fish sales are estimated at $200 million to $300 million a year
worldwide.
7. Misconceptions about fish
create poor and unfair
conditions for them:
For example, many people believe that betta fish can
survive without being fed regularly and without living
in a “complete ecosystem.”
Their tank might have nothing more than a vase and a
plant, and so the fish have a lonely, dull life and
slowly die from starvation.
All pets in shops come from
somewhere, most of the time
produced in a factory or stolen from
the wild.
CAGED BIRD CRUELTY
Like dogs on chains, caged birds crave
freedom and companionship, not
the cruel reality of forced solitary
confinement for the rest of their very long
lives. Driven mad from boredom and
loneliness, caged birds often become
violent, anxious, and self-destructive.
Bottled birds:
1. More than 24 endangered Yellow-crested cockatoos were rescued by
police
2. Smugglers stuffed them in bottles to get through customs in Indonesia
3. Critically endangered cockatoos can be sold for as much as £650 each
4. Around 40 per cent of birds die during the illegal smuggling process
DISCUSSION
1. Do you think it is right to keep wild animals as
pets?
2. Is it morally right to spend money buying animals
as pets knowing that there are other pets that need
a home. (adopt or buy?)
3. Do you think people should wear fur coats?
4. Do you know any endangered species?
5. Do you consider yourself an animal lover?
6. In your country, what kind of animal laws are
there?
An animal rights perspective.
1.
Animal rights theorists, such as the philosopher Tom Regan (1983), maintain that humans and certain other
animals share critical similarities (such as being able to feel pain and having desires about their future).
2. These shared abilities, on this view, support the possession of moral rights. And if an animal has rights, there
are some things we may never do to it.
3. In the case of wild animals, we should not kill, confine, or otherwise interfere in their lives. It is neither our
right, nor our duty, to cull, nor in other ways to manage, wild animals.
An animal rights perspective.
1.
Nor may we take away the land and other resources that wild animals require to live natural lives.
2. This does not mean that we cannot defend ourselves against wild animals if attacked — after all, we're
permitted to defend ourselves against other humans.
3. And, if necessary, habitats could be managed, provided animals were allowed to continue living the kinds of
life they have evolved to live. But in general, a wildlife policy determined by an animal rights perspective
would direct us just to leave wild animals alone.
How will you protect animals this year?