Extract from Thomas Paine article:
"A recent article in the Daily Mail (8 Jan. 2008) by Danny Penman describes Chinese children petting a goat at a zoo. Then zookeepers hoist the animal “nonchalantly” over a wall into a pit where she is torn to pieces by lions. The children clap with delight and ‘ooh’ and ‘aah.’ This scene at the Badaltearing Safari Park is a norm in China, a fun day’s outing for the family. At another zoo, Badaling, visitors can ‘fish’ for lions using live chickens. “For just 2 £, giggling visitors tie terrified chickens onto bamboo rods and dangle them in front of the lions,” Penman writes. Other abuses: moon bears with rusting steel nose rings chained in cages so small they cannot turn around; other animals, like tigers, driven insane by captivity in “cramped, filthy” cages. “Tortoise baiting” is also a craze at these zoos. To prevent her from pulling her head in, a band is placed around the tortoise’s neck–and the desperate animal tries to get away as visitors hurl coins at her head. Since tortoises cannot move very fast, removing the protection of their shell renders them helpless. Cows put in with tigers is another attraction at China’s zoos. Unfortunately, writes Penman, the “killing skills” of these big cats are “blunted by years of living in small cages….The tiger tried to kill—tearing and biting at the cow’s body in a pathetic-looking frenzy—but it simply didn’t know how.” Zoos also have restaurants with tiger meat on the menu. The animals are factory farmed on the premises—this means life-long confinement in cages so small they cannot even turn around.
Penman makes the point that raising children to applaud cruelty can have even more devastating consequences for animals in the future. I would add for people as well since the links are obvious: those who can harm one living being will be insensitive to all living beings. Slaughterhouses and battlefield go together—as Tolstoy pointed out."
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