English Debate: "Are Zoos Really Necessary?"

Last week we had a debate in class on the topic of "Are Zoos Really Necessary?" What I thought would actually be just another normal exchange of opinions turned out to be a show of some real heartfelt ideas.....we've got some true animal lovers in class! In fact, when I asked everybody to write up their opinions nobody was in favour of zoos.Here is a selection of everybody's opinion plus a photograph of our language assistant from Chicago, Alex Harris.

Joann, English teacher

"Without a doubt zoos aren't really necessary at all. Alot of people think that the animals in zoos are well taken care of but the truth is thatcaged animals get stressed and live unhappily. Animals mustn't be used for people's entertainment and their rights should be considered as well. Moreover, since we are talking about wild animals, we don't see them in their natural habitat when we go to a zoo."

Ana Múgica and Laura Kornberger

"Don't you think it would be better to let animals be free? The way I see it, we shouldn't make them live caged up and stressed out. If our aim is to observe them and learn about what animals are like then zoos aren't the best option because they don't display their natural behaviour. I disagree with the fact that zoos are necessary-they aren't!"

Paula Fernández, Patricia Latasa and Rong-Ying Zhou

"We strongly believe that animals should have freedom and not be in cages. If it were up to us, there would only be zoos for animals which were endangered species. The reason why we are against zoos is that it is not their natural habitat. Furthermore it is quite likely that the camera flashes could harm the animals. All things considered, we believe that zoos are not really necessary."

Lara Van Bergen, Gadea Coca, Nuria Hernández, Cristina Ibarz, Marta García and Alba Romero.

"We honestly feel that zoos aren't necessary because there are other ways of helping animals without denying them their freedom. We are convinced that animals prefer to live in their natural habitats instead of living in a cage. In our opinion zoos are really only a business."

Rocío Vergara and Marta Cereceda