Many animal lovers think of zoos, petting zoos, and other animal exhibits as fun, educational places for family outings. And it's true that some zoos may benefit animals in the long run by helping preserve endangered species and educating people about animals and their importance to healthy ecosystems. But in spite of highly publicized state-of-the-art exhibits, thousands of animals suffer lives of quiet desperation, languishing in roadside zoos or outdated and inhumane conditions.

In many facilities animal care barely meets the minimal federal requirements. More than 2,000 animal exhibitors have U.S. Department of Agriculture licenses, but only about 10 percent are accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. And accreditation is no guarantee that every exhibit in the facility provides humane care.

In fact, meeting the physical and psychological needs of many animals is nearly impossible in captive situations. Wild elephants, for example, live for decades in closely bonded family groups and often travel as much as 30 miles a day within their large home ranges. Even the best displays can't hope to approximate these conditions—or guarantee the social stability elephants need.

Petting zoos with wild and domestic animals on display for visitors to touch need special consideration. More than 75 zoonotic diseases can be transmitted from animals to people—many without direct physical contact—including cryptosporidiosis, psittacosis, rabies, salmonellosis, toxoplasmosis, and E. coli infections. Children, pregnant women, and elderly or immunocompromised people are especially at risk. Such exhibits should provide visitors information on the possibility of infection. Children younger than five years old should be closely monitored—or even prohibited from contact with the animals. These operations should also provide hand-washing facilities that include running water, soap, and disposable towels. And neither food nor eating should be permitted near the animals or their enclosures.

A few basic standards can be applied to all captive facilities—they should provide every animal with appropriate care and present no danger to the people who visit. Zoos should house animals in conditions that simulate their natural habitats as closely as possible, and—above all—ensure their humane care. Zoos that fail to meet these requirements cause unnecessary suffering and send visitors the wrong message about our responsibility to the animals who share our world. And as recent news stories about the National Zoo and other high profile facilities in our country have clearly shown, every captive animal exhibition needs continuous assessment to ensure that it meets these standards.

Before taking your family to a zoo or animal exhibit this summer, visit www.hsus.org/wildlife and go to Issues Facing Wildlife to learn more. The animals—and your children—deserve no less.