The Allure of Animal Attractions: Temptations to Get Up Close
It’s almost impossible to resist the temptation to take selfies and get close to cute and iconic animals.
These are excerpts of reviews posted by TripAdvisor about a tiger-petting facility in Thailand.
“First time I used a live Tiger as a pillow. This place is awesome. The food and drinks are great, as is the chance to enter a cage with tigers. Tiger Kingdom offers cages for small, medium or large tigers. “Getting into the cage was thrilling, and your friends will love the photos of the tigers.”
The review was “Better than Expected – Honest Animal Lover’s Review”. It is important to remember that these Tigers are captives. They have been raised around humans, and would not survive in the wilderness. The keepers had sticks but they only used them to tap the young tigers or to gently run the sticks along the ground. It would have been much more painful to be slapped by the mother’s foot in the wild. “We paid to see the animals, and you should as well!”
“I am an animal lover, and I was unsure if I’d agree with the care and treatment of these animals. I would not endorse this establishment if the animals were treated badly in the slightest. You won’t regret visiting this place.
These reviews show that animals in modern society are still unimportant. No one cares much about their welfare, rights or needs. They only want to have a good time. This confirms the fact that, despite increased awareness of animal abuse through social media and improved education, we are still not past the days when animals were viewed as mere objects or chattels. It is saddening to see how naive people are, especially the younger generation. Animal abuse seems to be a part of our modern world.
It is frustrating that “animal-lovers” who claim to love animals are happy to patronize animal attractions which treat them cruelly. They believe “loving” an animal is a selfish desire to touch them, have their pictures taken and be near them despite how they are treated. Use a tiger as a “pillow” or to “have good food”.
All these attractions are cruel, is the message.
It is hard to resist the temptation for someone who has no empathy towards animals to take selfies and get close to cute and iconic creatures. Social media has made it so that this temptation is stronger than any other. All these attractions, no matter how well-run you think they are, have a component of cruelty and abuse attached to them, either before, during, or after the animal has participated in it, or even all three.
Imagine how visitors would react to a puppy farm, where they are constantly interfering with the puppies.
Tiger cubs are only bred to stock these petting establishments. The tiger cubs are bred to breed the next generation, just as we hate puppy farms. Imagine a puppy farm where puppies are constantly harassed by visitors, and when they get older, they’re sent to breeding pens so that there is a constant supply to be handled.
Would you still be as eager to visit a place like that? These petting zoos serve no conservation or rescue purposes and exist only to generate income for local entrepreneurs. They wouldn’t exist if we didn’t visit them, and the tigers wouldn’t be subjected to all that stress and trauma. These establishments are also a health-and-safety nightmare.
The only thing that should be done is to observe wild animals at a distance, without harassing them. It is better to visit a zoo rather than these places. It’s also a shame large companies like TripAdvisor can’t do more to limit the encouragement to visit such establishments by monitoring reviews.
Avoid these places, and go somewhere else for a thrill.