Exploiting animals vocabulary and discussion

Exploiting animals vocabulary and discussion

 

Exploiting animals discussion questions

Discuss these questions in the order given:

1. How important are animals to you (extremely important, not so important, etc)? How does the importance of animals compare to the importance of humans? Why?
2. How important is animal welfare to you? Does it depend (on the kind of animal; on if they are wild, farmed, pets or pests, etc)?
3. Can you give some examples of exploitation of animals which you think is okay?
4. Can you give some examples of exploitation of animals which you think isn’t okay?

Discussing how acceptable exploitation of animals is

Choose one thing on the next page below, say how acceptable or not it is and why, and see if your partner agrees.

Ask about any lines which you don’t understand, discussing their acceptability each time.

Try to agree on the three most acceptable things in the list below.

Perhaps with a different partner, try to agree on the three least acceptable things/ most unacceptable things in the list below.

Read an online discussion and find views which are similar to what you said before. Then read again and find who you most agree with and least agree with.

Ask about anything in the texts which you don’t understand, discussing those opinions each time.

Ways of exploiting animals to discuss

• attaching technology to animals (to monitor their behaviour, to spy, etc)
• collecting dead animals (e.g. shells of dead beetles)
• cross breeding animals/ creating hybrids (e.g. a mule from a horse and donkey)
• doing experiments to understand them more (e.g. teaching them how to communicate)
• domesticating wild animals (e.g. taming wild horses)
• eating farmed seafood
• eating wild seafood
• eating animal products (milk, eggs, honey, etc)
• eating farm animals
• eating wild animals that have died such as roadkill
• eating lab-grown meat
• eliminating invasive species (e.g. killing all wild European rabbits in Australia)
• emotional support animals on planes
• factory farming
• free-range farming
• feeding them to other animals (e.g. to zoo animals or to your pet snake)
• feeding wild animals (for our own pleasure)
• fighting animals (cockfighting, etc)
• genetic manipulation of farm animals
• having pets (in cages, that never go outdoors, which are allowed to roam freely)
• hunting (for food, pests, dangerous animals, invasive species)
• interacting with animals (e.g. swimming with them)
• keeping animals in our gardens (e.g. tortoises)
• making animals perform (in movies, in circuses, etc)
• making things from animals (medicine, instruments, jewellery, art, decorations, etc)
• making medicine from animals
• petting animals (in petting zoos, cat cafés, etc)
• racing animals (e.g. dog racing)
• releasing animals into the wild/ rewilding
• service animals (guide dogs for the blind, etc)
• sterilisation (of feral cats/ stray cats, etc)
• stuffing animals (e.g. preserving dead pets)
• testing (cosmetics/ medicines) on animals
• trapping household pests (in mousetraps, etc) and releasing them
• trapping household pests (on flypaper, etc) and killing them
• trying to attract animals (to your garden with a bird bath or bird box, etc)
• using animals to control other animals (e.g. overpopulation or invasive species)
• using animals to hunt other animals
• using animals to transport goods and people (horse riding, camel trains, etc)
• using chemicals to protect yourself from animals
• using chemicals to protect your plants from animals
• watching animals in the wild (e.g. safaris)
• wearing animal products (fur from wild animals, fur from fur farms, leather, wool, etc)
• working animals (police dogs, horse and cart, etc)
• zoos/ safari parks

Discussing what to do with particular animals

Choose an animal or group of animals below and say what you think is and isn’t acceptable to do with those animals. Your partners will ask for your reasons, then agree, disagree, or tell you which parts they agree and disagree with. Discuss for as long as you like, then do the same for other animals or groups of animals.

• aquatic mammals (whales, dolphins, seals, sealions, etc)
• bears
• big cats (lions, tigers, ligers, etc)
• birds of prey (owls, eagles, etc)
• birds (parrots, ducks, crows, chickens, geese, pheasants, grouse, pigeons, sparrows, etc)
• bison
• camels
• cats
• cows
• crabs
• deer
• dogs (e.g. greyhounds and labradoodles)
• donkeys
• elephants
• fish (goldfish, tuna, sharks, koi, etc)
• foxes
• frog
• goats
• hamsters
• hedgehogs
• horses
• insects/ bugs (ants, bees, butterflies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, flies, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, silk worms, wasps/ hornets, fleas, woodlice, etc)
• mice
• mink
• octopuses
• pigs/ wild boar
• primates (monkeys and apes, e.g. chimpanzees and gorillas)
• rabbits
• reptiles (lizards, alligators/ crocodiles, snakes, etc)
• sheep/ lamb
• shellfish
• snail/ slug
• squirrels
• water buffalo
• wolves
• worms
• yaks