I have to say that I used to take my kids to the zoo when they were young, thinking that it would introduce them to animals that they wouldn’t normally see in order to appreciate them.

As I have “morphed”, I’ve taken a different view of zoos–I began to question that thinking.  Applying the “Do Unto Others…” thinking, I realized that I had to think of how terrible I would feel being taken out of my natural habitat and caged…for people to gawk at you (and even torment you, as some have)…

With that in mind, I stopped going to zoos, although I love animals and would love to see them, I can’t justify being a part of their imprisonment.

I can say that I didn’t understand why the animal activists of the 70s were releasing animals from zoos and from test labs, but I do now.  I don’t condone it because of the disaster that it brought:  the animals were set free, but they were quickly killed in traffic, etc.

Another story to drive this point home —

I used to subscribe to National Geographic for Kids for my kids to read.  In one of the editions, they wrote of a gorilla who was so smart that he unlocked his own cage…repeatedly.

I couldn’t find a link on their page, but I looked on the web and found this:   http://1037litefm.cbslocal.com/2012/08/02/monkey-tells-zoo-visitor-how-to-unlock-his-cage/

If that doesn’t tell us to stop putting them in cages, I don’t know what does….