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Dominguez 1
Yuliem Dominguez
English 155
Dr. Green
March 29, 2011
Reflective Essay
Coming into a research class was all I had been looking forward to be in since the start of
my Heald schooling. I love researching things and finding new information that I never knew
existed from topics that are familiar. From the start of this class I knew I wanted to write on
animals, I just didn’t know about what in specific. Many people had written about animal testing
and animal cruelty, but no one had written about animals being kept in captivity for
entertainment, none that I knew at least. I wanted to write on something that would make my
audience have a different perspective on zoos and aquariums which we have all visited at least
once in our lives. I wanted them to see why animals paced back and forth, why they become
aggressive, and why most die in captivity. This topic was, and is important to me because I love
animals and I am a big advocate against animal cruelty and captivity. I have donated to the Save
the Japan Dolphins Cause, which has become very popular ever since their film The Cove
starring Rick O’Barry, former trainer of the worldwide television series Flipper. I also
participate in signing petitions for animal causes. Because I have seen how animals are treated on
a day to day basis, and this topic hits home for me, I felt it was important to shed some light for
people who are not as active but would still be interested.
Starting my research, I found lots of information on elephants, research conducted by
watching carnivores in captivity, laws and regulations on how animals must be treated when kept
in captivity. I learned that animals that cover large amounts of land in the wild are the ones that
Dominguez 2
tend to pace more than others, which is an early sign of aggression. I also came across articles on
elephants and how they have not only been mistreated in zoos, but also circuses (Wild Animals
In Entertainment). When traveling with circuses, elephants are often kept in a cage, this game
cage where they sleep, eat, and defecate. When in zoos, they get little to no exercise, which is
essential to elephants because in their natural habitat they walk up to fifty miles a day (Cohn).
I also discovered that many dolphins and whales from Sea World died over the last several years.
I uncovered some of the causes of death included pluritis, pneumonia (Lee), which are both
caused by poor water quality and maintenance. This water quality has to be maintained by
facilities under the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, another source of information I obtained while
researching. The Animal Welfare Act has regulations on how low the water quality can fall, how
clean facilities must be maintained, and the smallest tank size appropriate for keeping whales and
dolphins in captivity.
I choose to present my research because I wanted to share my findings with my
classmates. I carefully picked the information to share with them, so it would make an impact on
how they view animals and animals in the entertainment world. The sources I choose for my
research were the United State Department of Agriculture, People of the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PETA), Association Aquariums and Zoos, and News articles from San Diego
newspaper and EBSCO. I choose these sources because they were the most credible, most people
had heard of PETA, and the Department of Agriculture was a government issued site, which is
highly credible. I rejected sites that were blogs or not supported by an actual organization, I felt
that those were opinions and not facts.
Some of the limitations I came across during my essay were the limit of words. I wanted
to include other oppositions to my argument. I wanted to talk about the statistic of survival for a
Dominguez 3
captive animals released in the wild versus an animal that was born in the wild. I also wanted to
talk about some of the good outcomes on captivity, such as, zoos and aquariums serve as
educational centers for others, and how much cheaper it is to visit a zoo or aquarium instead of
taking a trip to the Sahara, the jungle, or buying scuba diving equipment to view marine life.
There were plenty of things I learned in t his class, some I learned to refine, others, were
completely new to me. I learned how to clearly state my thesis so I wouldn’t confuse my
audience. I learned to refine my information and how to present it to my reader, so as to have a
smooth effect on the context. I also refined my paraphrasing skills, and how to cut them to be
short, simple, and to the point. I learned not to put quotes that are too long in my essay, so I
would not bore my readers.
I learned many things in this class, both about my topic and how to refine my essays to be
more effective. The new knowledge I gained from researching was very interesting and
surprising at the same time. Learning about animals and how they are affected by being in
captivity has been an eye opener for me, and I hope it was too for my readers. I believe that we
should treat animals with respect and to consider their health and environments instead of
placing them in the entertainment world for our benefit.
Words: 900