Every day the issue of animal rights becomes a more publicized and more controversial topic. More and more information is given to the public about how animals kept in captivity are being mistreated and abused. In the past, animals were very much objectified by humans. However, new research and insight into the mind and brain of animals shows that some animals are capable of emotions, feelings, and relationships, just like humans. This leads to the issue of just how ethical and humane it is to keep animals locked away in captivity. Keeping animals in captivity is inhumane because animals are intelligent creatures with thoughts and feelings, suffer from mental and physical health problems, and also pose a safety threat to human counterparts. 

 One of the most popular forms of animal captivity is the circus. In circuses, animals can often be seen performing amazing tricks like doing handstands, balancing on small objects or even other animals, riding bicycles, and jumping through rings of fire. However, it is not natural for animals to perform these kinds of stunts. Animals do not balance on one another or ride bicycles in the wild, they have to be trained to do so. While in front of an audience, circus animal trainers give off the impression that these animals are treated with respect and rewarded for what they do. In reality, though, these animals are consistently punished until they do what their trainers want. Animals are often beaten and shocked until they do as they are told. Bears have their front paws burnt to force them to walk on their hind legs and monkeys have their teeth knocked out and are drugged to make them more manageable. When circuses are not performing or training they keep their animals in small cages, isolated from each other (Colier). The definition of inhumane is "without compassion for misery or suffering; cruel" (dictionary.com). Circuses could definitely be considered inhumane because of the physical and mental trauma that they expose their animals to. 

One major reason that animal captivity is harmful is because of the health effects it places on animals. While in captivity, animals' health and safety is often compromised. SeaWorld is a widely known example of captive animals in poor physical condition. According to Alecia Simmonds, whales in SeaWorld are kept together in small tanks. This close proximity causes them to attack each other, resulting in physical trauma. The average lifespan of a SeaWorld orca is also much shorter than that of a wild orca. SeaWorld's orcas only live to be 25-30 years old, while wild orcas can live for up to 100 years (Simmonds). Zoos and other entertainment groups, such as circuses, have also been known to use physical abuse to coerce animals into doing what they want. These types of abuse include food and water deprivation, isolation, use of bull hooks, chaining, and restricted movement. These actions often result in weakening animals' strength and immune system, leading to disease, infections, the development of eating disorders, and digestive malfunctions (Bradshaw and Lindner). One animal that is very commonly physically abused is the circus elephant. According to Jessica Bell, internal documents from Ringling Brothers' reported that elephants were "dripping blood all over the arena floor during the show from being hooked" (Bell). The physical abuse of an animal is in no way humane and it is clear that these animals are suffering. 

As animal research is furthered we continue to discover that some animals possess intelligence that can be compared to humans. Dolphins come in only second to humans as far as intelligence. This is because they have an unusually large brain to body ratio. Neuroanatomical studies on the brains of dolphins have proven that dolphins have an even more intricate neocortex than most animals, including humans. Dolphins have von economo neurons, which are linked to social cognition and the ability to sense how others think and feel. This allows dolphins to have a great deal of communicative skills. They are able to differentiate relationships and have their own communities that continuously interact. Dolphins also have limbic systems, like humans, that allow them to feel emotions. Scientists have recorded dolphins helping their distressed companions and grieving the death of a family member (Bearzi). Another way that dolphins are proven to be intelligent is by their self-awareness. In an experiment done by cognitive scientist Diana Reiss markings were drawn on dolphins in places they could not see. The dolphins were then placed in front of a mirror and they were able to immediately recognize themselves, even twisting so that they could see their new markings. This was an incredible breakthrough because humans and chimpanzees were the only animals to ever do this. A few years later Reiss wanted to continue studies on the same dolphins, but she learned that both dolphins had died of infection after being transported to new aquariums (Grimm). If dolphins are as self-aware and socially adept as humans is it right to take them away from their family and keep them locked away where they will eventually die?

Another animal known to have a near-human level of intelligence is the chimpanzee. Chimpanzees are remarkable because not only do they have the ability to think and feel, they are also aware that others have the same abilities. They are even able to engage in mental time travel. This means that they can comprehend the difference between yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The fact that they can anticipate tomorrow is one of the reasons as to why it is so bad to keep them in captivity, especially in isolation. Scientists have played "economic games" with chimps and discovered that they were able to make fair offers without being taught that they should. They are also able to understand numbers and do simple math (Wise). Keeping animals with this level of intelligence is inhumane because these animals are conscious and aware of what is happening to them. Most captive environments lack the proper resources to keep these animals intellectually stimulated, which leads to mental health problems. 

Mental health problems are a common issue among animals kept in captivity. Most animals in the wild migrate thousands of miles throughout their lifetimes and have to hunt and communicate with one another to survive. However, in captivity these animals are forced to stay in the same place every day, have their food handed to them, and are kept isolated from other animals. This can easily lead to psychological and physiological problems. According to Laura Kurtycz, learned helplessness is just one of those problems. Animals in captivity have little to no control over their environment, including where they go, what they will eat, and who they will interact with. Once they have been in captivity long enough to realize this they give up and forget how to make their own decisions, relying on their trainers to make their decisions for them. This leads to poor mental stimulation and an altered personality (Kurtycz). Keeping dolphins in captivity has been known to put them under so much psychological stress that they attempt to jump out of their tanks. In one reported incident from 2006, a young bottlenose dolphin at the Minnesota Zoo jumped out of his tank and landed on headfirst on concrete. He later died from a fractured skull (Grimm). This dolphin had to have had some mental issues that caused him to try to escape his enclosure, most likely due to being in kept in captivity. It is also important to address that the dolphin's enclosure was unsafe if it could easily jump out of it. 

The safety of animals' enclosures is another major issue when keeping animals in captivity. Artificially made environments for animals are nowhere close to an animal's natural environment. For cetaceans, living in captivity is extremely different than living in the wild in many ways. In the wild, cetaceans normally travel up to 100 miles per day along with members of their pod. In captivity cetaceans can no longer swim for miles or dive for large depths. They are often isolated from other members of their species or placed with other incompatible animals. Cetaceans in the wild normally spend 80-90% of their time underwater. However, in captivity they spend 80-90% of their time at the surface, waiting to be fed and attended to by their trainers (Tilford). Artificial enclosures can also be extremely dangerous for animals. In November of 2014, a 16-month old gorilla was crushed to death by the door to her enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo. Prior to the incident two other gorillas had been injured by the same door (Nuno). Trash and litter from humans can also be a problem in zoos and other parks that keep animals on display. At the Saint Louis Zoo, a polar bear died when pieces of cloth and a trash bag clogged his digestive tract (Zoos). It is in no way humane for animals to be kept in such dangerous and poor conditions simply for human entertainment. 

Not only are the animals' safety put at risk when they are put in captivity, but also the humans who work with the animals. When wild animals are moved into new, artificial environments they become easily stressed, resulting in backlash against humans. Many people, including trained zookeepers and guests, have been attacked and even killed by animals kept in captivity. There are very few laws that make sure the safety of humans is not at risk when dealing with once wild animals. Even the very few guidelines that there are for human safety are ineffective. One example of this is the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). In order for a zoo to be accredited by the AZA appropriate safety procedures must be in place to prevent injury and attack, including specifications for enclosure height. The first problem with the AZA is that only ten percent of zoos and aquariums in the United States are considered accredited. This means that the majority of zoos in the United States do not possess the safety features needed to even be considered to be in the AZA. The second issue is that within those ten percent of zoos and aquariums there have still been numerous cases of injury and even death to zookeepers and guests by animals (Roberts).

 On Christmas Day in 2007 a Siberian tiger escaped from her enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo and killed a 17-year-old and mauled two other people. At Busch Gardens in Florida, a zookeeper was giving her family a private tour when her arm was ripped off by one of her animals. A tiger at the Miami Metro Zoo killed a zookeeper when they tried to open the door to the tiger's enclosure (Roberts). Each of these zoos are accredited by the AZA. The death of Dawn Brancheau, a SeaWorld trainer, is another example of human safety issues. Both SeaWorlds in the United States are accredited by the AZA. Dawn Brancheau was killed during a SeaWorld show when an orca dragged her into the water by her ponytail. Brancheau had been working with this orca for years, proving that experience does not equate safety when working with captive animals. Keeping animals in captivity is inhumane because it is placing our own species at risk, solely for the purposes of money and entertainment. It also commonly leads to the death of the animal who attacked. Injury to both the humans and animals could be avoided by leaving wild animals in their natural habitats. 

One idea that may also strongly determine human and animal safety in captive environments is that of "stockmanship." Stockmanship is defined as the management of animals by someone who takes care of them in a safe, effective, and low-stress method for both the human and animal. Stockmanship was originally studied primarily on farming animals, but has now grown to include wild animals who are kept in captivity. Studies done on stockmanship in zoos showed that poor quality stockmanship resulted in lower animal productivity and animal welfare. Negative handling, including slapping, pushing, shouting, and using scare tactics, resulted in reduced growth of animals and increased basal free cortisol rates, which is an indicator of stress. Just by being treated in slightly negative ways, animals were subjected to physical trauma. One study done on Chimpanzees showed that positive human animal interaction lead to allogrooming, or social grooming, which is considered an indicator of good animal welfare. The chimpanzees also suffered from less harmful behaviors such as regurgitation, inactivity, and excessive reactivity to other chimpanzees. In studies done on zoo tigers, scientists discovered that keeper personality had a greater impact on human tiger interaction than the tiger's own personality (Ward and Melfi.) Unfortunately, zookeepers do not always display proper stockmanship, which causes the animals to suffer even more. 

There are many arguments about why keeping animals in captivity is necessary. One is that it allows us to observe and learn more about animals. The problem with this argument is that when animals are in captivity, they are not behaving as they would in the wild. They no longer have to hunt for their own food, find their own shelter, and roam around as they would in the wild. When observing animals in captivity the research is extremely inaccurate and totally different than it would be if we were to observe these animals in their natural habitats. Although observing animals in the wild may be more difficult and expensive, it is possible and provides us with a much more accurate depiction of wild animals. Another popular argument is conservation. Many species that are endangered are kept in captivity to ensure that they do not go extinct. The problem with this argument is that the real problem with endangerment is not being addressed. Instead of capturing these animals and keeping them in poorly made, false environments we should take measures to stop what is causing these animals to go extinct, such as deforestation and hunting. By implementing stricter laws and punishments for people who help cause the extinction of animals we can help conserve species in a much more efficient way than keeping them locked away in zoos or "sanctuaries." 

Keeping animals in captivity poses many problems for both the animals and for humans. Animals in captivity are often physically and mentally abused, whether that be the intent of the caretaker or not. This is completely inhumane and should not stopped immediately. These animals are much too intelligent to be locked up in such small and dull enclosures. They are aware of what is happening to them and suffer from lack of psychological exercise. Human safety is also a large issue when it comes to keeping animals in captivity. There have been many accounts of human injury and death caused by captive animals. Every day the lives of humans are risked for entertainment and money purposes. Each of these issues shows how keeping animals in captivity is inhumane and dangerous. 

