The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal ObservationsHornaday, William T. (William Temple)
Science
The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal Observations
Hornaday, William T. (William Temple)
Animal behavior
Art. 11. No person has any moral right to keep a wild mammal,
bird, reptile or fish in a state of uncomfortable, unhappy or
miserable captivity, and all such practices should be prevented by
law, under penalty. It is entirely feasible for a judge to
designate a competent person as a referee to examine and decide
upon each case.
Art. 12. A wild creature that cannot be kept in comfortable
captivity should not be kept at all; and the evils to be guarded
against are cruelly small quarters, too much darkness, too much
light, uncleanliness, bad odors, and bad food. A fish in a glass
globe, or a live bird in a cage the size of a collar-box is a case
of cruelty.
Art. 13. Every captive animal that is suffering hopelessly from
disease or the infirmities of old age has the right to be
painlessly relieved of the burdens of life.
Art. 14. Every keeper or owner of a captive wild animal who
through indolence, forgetfulness or cruelty permits a wild
creature in his charge to perish of cold, heat, hunger or thirst
because of his negligence, is guilty of a grave misdemeanor, and
he should be punished as the evidence and the rights of captive
animals demand.
Art. 15. An animal in captivity has a right to do all the damage
to its surroundings that it can do, and it is not to be punished
therefor.
Art. 16. The idea that all captive wild animals are necessarily
"miserable" is erroneous, because some captive animals are better
fed, better protected and are more happy in captivity than similar
animals are in a wild state, beset by dangers and harassed by
hunger and thirst. It is the opinion of the vast majority of
civilized people that there is no higher use to which a wild bird
or mammal can be devoted than to place it in perfectly comfortable
captivity to be seen by millions of persons who desire to make
its acquaintance.
Art. 17. About ninety-five per cent of all the wild mammals seen
in captivity were either born in captivity or captured when in
their infancy, and therefore have no ideas of freedom, or visions
of their wild homes; consequently their supposed "pining for
freedom" often is more imaginary than real.
Art. 18. A wild animal has no more inherent right to live a life
of lazy and luxurious ease, and freedom from all care, than a man
or woman has to live without work or family cares. In the large
cities of the world there are many millions of toiling humans who
are worse off per capita as to burdens and sorrows and joys than
are the beasts and birds in a well kept zoological park. "Freedom"
is comparative only, not absolute.
Art. 19. While the use of trained animals in stage performances
is not necessarily cruel, and while training operations are based
chiefly upon kindness and reward, it is necessary that vigilance
should be exercised to insure that the cages and stage quarters of
such animals shall be adequate in size, properly lighted and
acceptably ventilated, and that cruel punishments shall not be
inflicted upon the animals themselves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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