Farms, Zoos, Safari Parks

[dapretz]

Hi,

Having turned Vegan last month, I am beginning to encounter greater scope of a vegan lifestyle.

As a family we always have loved animals, and would go to various petting farms (Farmer Teds Ormskirk, Acorn Farm Kirkby, Windmill Animal Farm Burscough).
It, ignorantly, has just dawned on me that lambs my daughter has bottle fed, the piglets she has watched feeding from their mother etc have since all been slaughtered.

Similarly, we used to go to Zoos and Safari Parks... but see these both as cruel now.

Is there anywhere for an animal loving, vegan family to go where they can interact with animals, without supporting their abuse?
Are all Zoos and Safari Parks cruel?

Just looking for information and advice, not judgement please.

 

[nobody]

Are all Zoos and Safari Parks cruel?

Yes. Some vegans justify some zoos on the basis of them doing conservation work with some of the animals in their care, like maybe they have an endangered species here or there that they breed and then reintroduce some to the wild, but that kind of zoo is still a cruel organization, where some of the animals are captured from the wild just to provide them to the zoo, and others are bred in captivity just to provide specimens for the zoo while viable wild populations exist, so the breeding of these animals is unnecessary to keep the species going.

A farm animal sanctuary is different because the animals are all rescues and they are all spayed and neutered. And most people aren't normally around farm animals so it is worth visiting. Here are some:

Farm animal sanctuary, uk

www.google.com

 

[Lou]

There is an argument, not sure of its validity, but it feels right to me.
That for families with children, farms, parks, and zoos are "allowable". The argument goes, how can we foster compassion for animals in children if they have never seen one (or talked to one, touched one, and looked one in the eye).

However, there is something compassionate you can do with your kids. You can visit an animal sanctuary. Sometimes called a "Farm Animal Sanctuary" or an "animal rescue".

We have several near me and I actually remember reading about one in England. So just now I googled it and there are lots. You probably have one somewhat near you. Animal Aid has a list of them. It's really a long list.

The one I read about has the wonderfully specific name of "The Farm Animal Sanctuary". If it is far from you, you might even want to plan a family expedition to it.

It looks like Freshfield is really close to you. From the photos posted, it looks a little dismal. but a lot of the photos were taken on a cloudy day. And kids don't usually notice if a wall needs a coat of paint.

 

[Lou]

Here is one.