Montana Jones

Petting zoo

The tent was striped red and white and the dirty banner read "Free Admission". We wandered over to see what was going on. There were llamas, goats, ponies, a large tiger, striped orange and black, a monkey, some lemurs and a trio of lion cubs. Outside the tent was a camel and another tent was hung with a sign "See the exotic black panther, $1.00". We browsed the cages and pens. The cats were beautiful but restless. The monkey looked as bored as a ninth grader in math class. There were signs directing us to get a photo taken with a lion cub for $3.00. Pony rides for $1.00. You could buy animal feed for $2.00. A sad looking string of dolls and Tasmanian Devils and Incredible Hulks jostled each other in the breeze, waiting for the enthusiasm to be sold. After inspecting each of the cages Dad and I looked at each other with a shrug and left.

Dad:

What are the ethics of that?

Me:

I'm not sure what is going on, but it felt sketchy to me.

Dad:

The fellow said they will be here for some festival later in the month.

Me:

That makes sense. I didn't see enough income there to cover the cost of feeding and transporting those animals.

Dad:

They probably make more money at fairs and so on. I asked the guy about moving them in the trucks and he said that they stop every few hours to check on the animals and make sure there is plenty of food and water. But those trucks are pretty small and the cages are pretty small. They don't get much chance to get out and move. Some of those animals are more accustomed to wide open spaces.

Me:

There is a part of me that wants to give them the benefit of the doubt. The sign said they come from an exotic animal preserve in Florida and perhaps that is true. This could be a side branch to that business. But if all these animals do is go from county fair to county fair, well, they are not living much of a life.

Dad:

That parking lot is a pretty hard surface to live on too.

Me:

Yeah, I thought about that. The straw they have down won't be much comfort.

Dad:

Not much comfort at all.

Me:

Yup, the whole thing felt pretty shady.

Labels: animal, cage, conversation, dad, ethics, petting zoo

Posted by: Montana Jones / 5:51 AM