The chickens at the new Madison Children's Museum rooftop garden are apparently trying to escape. Ideally, I'd love for all animals to be free, and I think that in general animals have a right to not be treated as entertainment or learning tools, which is what is happening at MCM.
You might ask, what do I think about zoos? I don't like them, but I think they are a necessary evil. Zoos serve as protection of animals who are hurt or endangered. I definitely don't think that zoos should contain animals which are not endangered, such as goats (why do zoos have goats but rarely horses or cows?).
What do I think about pets? I think that pets should be kept only in certain cases: when they are rescued, when being released would be a danger to the environment, people or themselves, when they are properly controlled (yes, I support population control for animals as well as humans), and in cases when they directly benefit an individual such as a companion or service animal or seeing-eye dog. I do not like keeping animals as bomb sniffers, drug dogs, police horses, or circus animals. I am totally against the sale and breeding of dogs.
What about keeping animals to eat or to provide some other food or resource such as wool? Like I said, I ideally think animals should be free and not used for food, clothing, or other things.
What other treatment of animals do I consider inappropriate? Culling, testing and research, genetic engineering, transportation, decoration, and the list goes on. I'm pretty much in favor of coexisting with animals in ways that are not harmful or unnecessarily restrictive.
In any case, it appears to me that as long as we cage, contain, and control animals we have to deal with the ethical consequences that result, including when chickens try to escape their coops by jumping off of a five story building (as the article indicates, the chicken that did this was fortunately not injured).
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