ABSTRACT
People sometimes comment that we cannot know whether animals are in satisfactory conditions because they cannot tell us. But they do tell us, by their health, the readiness with which they breed, how much of their natural behaviour they show, and how much abnormal behaviour they engage in, as well as by what can be called ‘direct indications’. Weighing the findings of the criteria against each other, we can establish pretty well how satisfactory any particular conditions are, and whether any particular kind of animal shouldn’t be kept at all.
