In the United States roughly 2 million people are incarcerated; billions of animals are held captive (and then killed) in the food industry every year; hundreds of thousands of animals are kept in laboratories; thousands are in zoos and aquaria; millions of "pets" are captive in our homes. Surprisingly, despite the rich ethical questions it raises, very little philosophical attention has been paid to questions raised by captivity.Though conditions of captivity vary widely for humans and for other animals, there are common ethical themes that imprisonment raises, including the value of liberty, the nature of autonomy, the meaning of dignity, and the impact of routine confinement on physical and psychological well-being. This volume brings together scholars, scientists, and sanctuary workers to address in fifteen new essays the ethical issues captivity raises. Section One contains chapters written by those with expert knowledge about particular conditions of captivity and includes discussion of how captivity is experienced by dogs, whales and dolphins, elephants, chimpanzees, rabbits, formerly farmed animals, and human prisoners. Section Two contains chapters by philosophers and social theorists that reflect on the social, political, and ethical issues raised by captivity, including discussions about confinement, domestication, captive breeding for conservation, the work of moral repair, dignity and an ethics of sight, and the role that coercion plays.

AcknowledgementsContributorsIntroduction -- Lori GruenSection One1. "Canis Familiaris: Companion and Captive" -- Alexandra Horowitz2. "Cetacean Captivity" -- Lori Marino3. "Captive Elephants" -- Catherine Doyle4. "Captive Chimpanzees" - Stephen R. Ross5. "Rabbits in Captivity" -- Margo DeMello6. "Captivity in the Context of a Sanctuary for Formerly Farmed Animals" -- Miriam Jones7. "Life Behind Bars" -- John Bryant, James Davis, David Haywood, Clyde Meikle, Andre Pierce8. "Political Captivity" -- Lauren GazzolaSection Two9. "For their Own Good: Captive Cats and Routine Confinement"-- Clare Palmer and Peter Sandoe10. "Born in Chains? The Ethics of Domestication" -- Alasdair Cochrane11. "The Confinement of Laboratory Animals: Ethical and Conceptual Issues" -- Robert Strieffer12. "Captive for Life: Conserving Extinct Species through Ex Situ Breeding" -- Irus Braveman13. "Sanctuary, Not Remedy: The Problem of Captivity and the Need for Moral Repair" -- Karen S. Emmerman14. "Dignity, Captivity, and an Ethics of Sight" -- Lori Gruen15. "Captivity and Coercion" -- Lisa RiveraIndex