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That we should ban zoos

(PRO)
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(CON)
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qsarabas5qsarabas5 (PRO)
peace be with u leachy brother.
what is the definition of zoo? an establishment where wild animals are kept for preservation ,study and display to public.on the one hand we are calling them wild animal ,on the other hand we keep them in confined area.this contradiction is creating a wrinkle. why should they be called wild animal if we are not  keeping them in their natural habitat.
secondly science says wild animal were present on earth even before us .through the process of evolution , humans came into existence from primitive animals.so if we claim that planet earth belongs only to us,we are wrong.like every human ,every single animal on earth has got its rights to live freely. lets define what is right? according to one definition a right is entitlement to something like concepts of justice, freedom, ownership of something.as much as we want freedom ,justice , love ,so are the animals ,because we are also animals,the difference is only that we are smarter than other animals.this gives us upper hand to us.And we feel proud in being so.so we do whatever we desire,even at the cost of someone's freedom and right.right of freedom demands that everyone should be allowed to live freely ,and no one can snatch ones freedom unless one desire so.please tell me, before putting animals into small barred cages ,does anyone even seek their permission let me remind u one important fact.they are living creatures as are we.they feel what we feel,the only difference is they cant express it through speech..that is the difference between a slave and free man. no one bother to ask a slave what he wants or not.that is what we do with animals,snatching their good days, in the warm lap of their mother, we simply capture them to tame for our selfish amusement.we dont even hesitate to think for a single second what if animals were more smarter than us,and same was being done to us without our will.if we look back into past ,we see slave trade and slave keeping. their freedom,opinion, idea were restricted by their masters, they could not even eat unless their master wanted so.they had no opportunity to express their freedom.it seems as if they were without voice.so tell  me what is difference between those slave keeping era and keeping animal without their will into zoo.our ancestors used to prison and kill slaves for their amusement, and now we keep animals for our entertainment. plz tell me who are we to decide so. what rights we have to bound animal even if for the betterment of them.i believe every single animal has been given survival instincts. each animal can survive its own.those fail to do so,it is either nature decide so for them or human activities shorten their generation life span over planet earth. which is no different than killing innocent with guns. according to 2013 study by dr.Paul o'donoghuen,those species who are about to extinct they have less "genetic integrity".my point is if want freedom , justice or other ethical rights, we should give speechless animals their freedom first ,justice by freeing them into their on natural environment.they were living their for million of years.they made it through all these years by themselves, they can do same again. what we all have to do is to eradicate our selfish approach to less powerful. that is all for round one.


Return To Top | Posted:
2016-04-25 07:30:31
| Speak Round
LeachyLeachy (CON)
So Basically I believe this debate is fundamentally about Animal welfare. What's more I think its about weather we can have the benefits of zoos without the harms my opponent has spoken about

Firstly I don't intend to defend all zoos. I think we should close down zoos which don't meet high standards of animal welfare, but I don't think that the existence of bad zoos should lead to a blanket ban. What I intend to do instead in this debate is show why zoos are essential for the preservation of endangered species and the environment more broadly but before I do that I'll address my opponents main argument.

The main thrust of my opponents case was that animals have a right to live freely. The reasoning here is that humans have the right to freedom so animals should too. To answer this argument lets look at why we believe Humans should have a right to freedom. We think its because humans suffer when they are deprived of their ability to move and do as they wish. We think we suffer because we have the ability to conceive of other possible situations, to desire things in the long term, to remember things and places visited previously.  Animals on the other hand can't do these things, at least not to the same extent and their for they don't suffer from their captivity in the same way humans would. Animals are less intelligent and this is a relevant consideration in this debate, not simply a convenient excuse to 'use' like my opponent would have you believe.   My opponent claimed that animals "want freedom ,justice , love" like we do. That's false. They don't have the capacity to understand those sorts of concepts. They want food, water and to reproduce, all things which can be provided in captivity. Zoos can be humane, they can provide high quality enclosures which means animals can live very happy, very satisfied lives.

So why are zoos beneficial and here I will provide two reasons.

Firstly: Zoo provide a means of protecting endangered species and provide a home for animals which can no longer live in the wild.  Without Zoos we would loose millions of dollars and thousands of experts dedicated to preserving endangered species and looking after animals which have lost their habitats. The zoos public dimension makes this financially possible, without zoos these efforts would never get off the ground.

Secondly: Zoos provide a way to educate the public and generate an interest in the environment in a way nothing else can. If we want people to care and activate politically to preserve the environment we must make them care enough  to do so and there is no better way to do this than make them experience it first hand.

The above two arguments mean that even if we accepted that zoos violate some rights of animals, that is a cost the neg is prepared to wear because of the benefits the broader environment gains from zoos existing.

So because we think Zoos benefit the environment and because we think they can do so without causing harm to animals I happily oppose this motion


Return To Top | Posted:
2016-04-26 08:21:00
| Speak Round
Cross-Examination
qsarabas5: Thank u leachy. Chairs ,as my opponent himself talked about bad zoos.let me analyze the situtation.there are thousands of big and small zoos all over the world.most of them exist in big cities full of pollution and populated.Whereas there are a few major national safari parks in the world built in jungles,and meet the standard of animals natural habitat.so plz tell what about those millions of poor,according to opponent,"less intelligent" but alive creatures who is compelled to live in cages.let me add some facts about human behaviour towards animals. the woburn safari park in bedfordshire eng
qsarabas5: admitted killing of monkeys bcz they cost too much.2007 ida(in defence of animal ) reported list of top ten worst places for an elephants in usa.in 1993, tiger bone wine case was revealed.poor living environment,malnourishment,lack of proper diets are other grave issues.so freeing all animals to their natural environment would be a more humane.
qsarabas5: my opponent aslo made a point saying that animals are a less intelligent creature.opponent implied that human is more intelligent animal.so they are not worthy of freedom ,love and justice.what a selfishness.just bcz u r more intelligent animal u need all things, they are less intelligent they don't. wow. plz reverse the scene for a second and now say we dont need freedom ,love and justice bcz we are less intelligent. can u even think about this?
qsarabas5: if animal dont desire freedom, why u keep them in cages and net,bcz u r afraid they would run away, birds would fly to the deep blue sky.of course they require freedom,they demand freedom.a polar beer needs thousands of kilometer space to roam about,while u keep him in 10 meter cage.i think he would prefer living out in wilderness.a lion is meant for running,preying, ruling,it is in his instints,in cage he cant do any of these things.bcz u r trying to change his nature.this is impossible
qsarabas5: now talk about love.opponent said they dont know about love.may be they dont .may be they dont have names for loves,may be thy dont have poetry about love ,but they do feel the warmth of love.this ia all that matters.a mother loves his child and saves him from harm of wild environment.this is the way ,they depicts their love.but we try to understand love in our own terms, like dating etc.when we dont find such things ,we say they dont need love
qsarabas5: one point my opponent made was animal dont suffer if kept in captivity except human.2008 ,a govt-funded study discovered that there was a welfare concern over elephants in uk,bcz 75% of them were over weight due to lack of exercise.40% lion cubs die in zoo than 30% in jungles.in uk 54% elephant experience behavioral problems.lion spend 48% of their time moving side to side.excessive licking self mutilation,trunk swaying, sexual problems they have to face.moreover they feel lonely.
qsarabas5: i just want to ask one thing,does smartness is all that matters. intelligence is all ab.out surviving.they have survived so far and they would survive. the only danger for their survival is human.we kill millions of animals daily for meat.how many human they kill daily.as i mentioned earlier 1% species who r more susceptible have lost their gene integrity according to dr.paul.so instead of keeping animals in zoo why dont we design laws for animal of our innerself which is threat for animal survival.we should punish those who prey animals ,cuase extinction threats.as for as opponent argue
qsarabas5: about learning ang entertainment is concerned, just reverse the scene and enjoy urself in cage while animals are wondering around u and entertaining.i hope no one would like this even the dumbest of all human
Leachy: Ok so there was a lot there. Firstly, I didn't just state that animals are less intelligent, what I gave you was analysis why animals don't suffer in the same way humans do in captivity. Your argument was that animals need freedom for the same reason humans do, my analysis showed that wasn't the case.
Leachy: I said I'm happy to close down bad zoos because I didn't want to stand for cruelty to animals in this debate. I also recognize that it is impractical to expect every zoo to be a Safari park which is why I think there is a happy medium. What I want to stand for is regular, well run, well looked after Zoos. Think London Zoo in the UK or Tarronga Zoo in Sydney. These Zoos aren't paradise for animals but at the same time they provide large enclosures and meet the highest standards of care.
Leachy: Even good zoos will have problems and issues, but we can and should address those issues when they arise. For my opponent to win this argument he must not simply show that zoos can be bad, but there is something intrinsic which means zoos will always be bad.
qsarabas5: ok. my opponent said animals dont suffer in the same way as humans do in captivity.I agree .but i want to clear something. we human are designed in such a way that we understand things by comparing them with our past experience. for example we understand pain of someone by thinking about a painful situi
qsarabas5: well,my opponent said animal dont suffer in the same way as humans.may be they not.what if we are wrong in our perception of their suffering? humans understand things by comparing them to their past experience. for example true suffering of pain can only be understood if someone of us have been in pain. we try to understand everything in nature in our own way. we try to understand animal suffering of captivity in our own way.but how many of us have in captivity.so they could realize true misery.moreover whatever the way they suffer, either our wayy or some other,the point is they suffer. ,
qsarabas5: this is all that matter. i agree to opponent when he said all bad zoo should be closed. but he gave example of london zoo etc, i m sure 90% of animals and birds are those who have no danger of extinction.if they have no danger we are we keeping them in captivity,for amusement and entertainment. again i would ask one simple question,should it be allowed for superior animal to keep less smarter animal in captivity for amusement and entertainment.

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