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TIGERS CONFINED TO CONCRETE CAGES

They spend their entire lives surrounded by concrete. For most of the day each tiger is confined to a cage approximately 10x10 in size. There was nothing in the cage except for a table they lay on. From this cage they are then taken, one at a time, to a public viewing area, yet another concrete enclosure. They never get to feel the sunshine, they never get to breathe fresh air, and they never get to feel a breeze on their faces. They never get to hear the sounds of outdoors like birds chirping or smell the scents of the great outdoors.

Who would do this you ask? Where are these helpless tigers located? They are the 4 white tigers who call the Houston Downtown Aquarium home. Aquarium? Why are there white tigers at an aquarium? Plain and simple-for money. But I have to ask this question. Would someone decide NOT to visit an AQUARIUM because there are no white tigers? I think not.

In a recent response to a post on their Facebook page, they were quick to point out that their facility is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The accreditation process by the AZA calls into question just how difficult is it to get accredited with the AZA? How does a facility keeping white tigers in barren, cement-floored cages without access to the outdoors pass the supposedly "rigorous application process and very thorough onsite inspection by a team of experts in the profession"?

White tigers are extremely beautiful animals but they serve no conservation purpose. White tigers are the result of inbreeding to produce "oddball" animals for human entertainment. Don't be fooled by any company or organization that tells you they are displaying these animals for educational or conservation purposes. It's for profit. Please don't support the Houston Aquarium or reward them with your dollars for a life of cruel confinement. NO LIVING BEING deserves to be confined to a concrete cage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for their entire life. Even prisoners in solitary confinement are permitted to go outside.

Please don't support venues that claim to care about wildlife when all they really care about is MONEY.