America proves itself to belong to the 3rd World. Again.

[Tyguy]

Its not what you know, its what you can prove.

Spoiler

So, to be honest, this kind of thing will carry on going regardless of whether its made illegal or not. If anything, making it illegal will make the situation worse. There will be more money involved, therefore more people getting involved to make a profit.

That's a very lousy justification for your argument.

Plus these dogs are, as far as Im aware, bred only for fighting purposes.

Why is this relevant? If anything it provides a legitimate reason to audit our current laws on animal abuse.

Its arguably no different to slave traders effectively ''breading'' super slaves by picking slaves with the best genes so that they could be better workers. Thats people being ''bred'' to work.

Obviously you aren't trying to dehumanize slavery but your metaphor is ridiculous. First, just because an animal is bred to be vicious does not assuage the the fact that putting it into a situation provoking violence is wrong. Second, you seem to be hinting at the notion that this behavior is acceptable due to the animal's tendency towards violence.

People who say zoos should be shut down are just ignorant. I'm serial. They provide an important safety net for endangered species in case of extinction in the wild.

This is completely wrong. The primary goal of a zoo is not to provide a safety net for its inhabitants. The primary purpose is money. Of course some animals are better off in captivity and some establishments are in place purely for their own good; I won't question that. However it's important to understand the majority of zoo's are in place for financial gain. Think of this in a global context, where animal rights are sometimes not even taken into consideration.

I probably have a different perception of zoos than you as I've seen many around the world which make your typical US zoo look like the Ritz. The conditions some animals have to live in is deplorable.

 

[Eejit]

This is completely wrong. The primary goal of a zoo is not to provide a safety net for its inhabitants. The primary purpose is money. Of course some animals are better off in captivity and some establishments are in place purely for their own good; I won't question that. However it's important to understand the majority of zoo's are in place for financial gain. Think of this in a global context, where animal rights are sometimes not even taken into consideration.

I probably have a different perception of zoos than you as I've seen many around the world which make your typical US zoo look like the Ritz. The conditions some animals have to live in is deplorable.

No, it's largely true for western countries. Obviously in many poorer countries and ****ed up totalitarian states like China animals aren't treated as well, but neither are humans so what do you expect?
Here's a WIKI LINK which will PROVE me CORRECT http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoos#Conservation_and_research

 

[Krynn72]

Not only that but zoos are vital in terms of educating people about animals. Guess what happens when more and more people learn about animals. Things get better for them.

 

[Billy Shears]

I don't think there was much dogfighting in video games to begin with.

 

[Eejit]

Not since the days of X-Wing vs TIE fighter

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

I wanna play the 4-man Star Fox 64 dogfighting free-for-all again with my friends. We used to have such a blast with that thing.

 

[The Monkey]

Not only that but zoos are vital in terms of educating people about animals. Guess what happens when more and more people learn about animals. Things get better for them.

Documentaries are far better at educating people than zoos. The people's perceptions of the animals get distorted because they're in an unnatural habitat.

 

[99.vikram]

Documentaries are far better at educating people than zoos. The people's perceptions of the animals get distorted because they're in an unnatural habitat.

Try getting a six year old excited about nature with a documentary. Documentaries, articles etc. are suited to adults, but what fired my imagination as a child was to watch tigers and lions etc. at zoos.

I feel for zoo animals, really, but this is the only avenue for many people to get to see real live animals. Most folk can't afford an african safari.

 

[The Monkey]

Try getting a six year old excited about nature with a documentary. Documentaries, articles etc. are suited to adults, but what fired my imagination as a child was to watch tigers and lions etc. at zoos.

What fired my imagination as a child was to watch tigers and lions etc. in Disney movies.

 

[Sheepo]

I wanna play the 4-man Star Fox 64 dogfighting free-for-all again with my friends. We used to have such a blast with that thing.

I don't know what this post is doing here, but I love you for it.

 

[Remus]

What fired my imagination as a child was to watch tigers and lions etc. in Disney movies.

You're not the only one. When I was a kid all I would watch on TV was Discovery Channel, and Cartoon Network.

I've never actually ever been to a zoo in my life, the only animals I've ever seen in real life(besides dogs and cats) were on a farm.

 

[Eejit]

Documentaries are far better at educating people than zoos. The people's perceptions of the animals get distorted because they're in an unnatural habitat.

On the other hand TV distorts people's perception of animals because they can't smell them and the sense of scale is not as immediate.

 

[Maestro]

Gotta side with Eejit. Even if the objective isn't to support endangered species, which for some zoos it is, there is still the element of rescuing and potentially repopulating lost species in the wild.