March 15, 2006

Joe Maierhauser, President & CEO

Reptile Gardens

PO Box 620

Rapid City, SD 57709

Re:  Chicken basketball

Dear Mr. Maierhauser:

Although I have never had the pleasure of visiting Reptile Gardens in person, when viewing your website it quickly becomes apparent that, in most regards, you are running a sterling operation.  I have read, amongst numerous other items of interest, that you were one of the first exhibitors to allow birds and reptiles to roam freely in a space large enough to properly accommodate them; also, of your assistance to zoos which seek to promote species survival through breeding programs, and of your work to educate the public on important environmental issues.  Indeed, the shows conducted at Reptile Gardens by Wildlife Experiences, Inc. – whose activities in the field of bird rescue and rehabilitation deserves everyone's thanks – as well as the reptile shows you yourselves put on, give ample evidence of the sincerity of your efforts.  Why, then, are some of us putting up a squawk about your use of chickens as part of the entertainment package put together by Reptile Gardens?

It is my understanding that with regard your housing and general care of the chickens, you follow all applicable welfare standards; there can be no complaint on that account.  The birds themselves, whose "workday" consists of being placed into glass display boxes, and whose task it is, when a visiting human inserts a quarter in a slot, to drop a specified number of balls into a basket (or, to play a game of tic-tac-toe, I assume by pecking at rotating discs or cubes) for which, upon completion, they receive a reward of food, cannot be said to be the subject of "cruelty" as that term is commonly defined.  In fact, it might be argued that playing these games provides the chickens with a form of mental stimulation which they would not otherwise receive.  Again, then, the question arises:  Why the complaint?

The complaint stems from an objection to the use of animals – any animal – for the sole purpose of providing entertainment to humans in order to achieve a monetary gain (I don't think it can reasonably be denied that that is what is occurring here).  To make use of animals in this way is to promote an ideology which holds that animals – or at least, some animals – may acceptably be treated as mere commodities.  This assumption is reinforced each and every time a visitor views, and participates in, the use of chickens as "trade" at Reptile Gardens.  Such use only serves to give the visitor blithe reassurance with regard their acceptance of the exploitation of chickens in other ways – most notably, of course, as occurs in their use as a food source.  Exploitation of chickens by the food industry is, as you doubtless know, callous in the extreme with regard to the welfare and well-being of chickens in specific, and of poultry of any kind in general.

All of this flies in the face of Reptile Gardens' general aims and purposes.  The question then becomes, not:  Why do some of us object to your use of chickens, but rather:  Why do you continue to condone their use in this manner?  Were you to use the game-playing abilities of chickens to promote greater understanding and appreciation of their natural curiosity, vivacity, and intelligence, an argument might be levied in favor of their continued employment at this pastime, for you would, by making such understanding and appreciation your guiding motivation, surely likewise be forwarding the effort to create a greater sense of compassion for those countless millions of chickens currently suffering under the auspices of the agricultural industry.  By your own standards, this is a goal worth achieving:  for if it can be said that a greater proportion of understanding and appreciation should be accorded all the various species of reptiles and birds who are represented at Reptile Gardens, doesn't it make sense to say that it likewise deserves to be accorded all other animals as well – including even the lowly chicken?

I am writing you, therefore, to ask that you please give consideration to putting an end to your exploitive use of chickens, and that you also consider retiring those birds you currently have on hand to an accredited sanctuary.  There they will be allowed to be what nature first intended – which is to say, they will be allowed to be, simply, chickens.

Yours sincerely & etc. . . .