Wow, this is a good question. 

Here offers my personal opinion:

Animals like livestocks are born to be captively raised, but the way they are raised should follow their nature,  the natural law.

Take chickens for example, they feel happy and grow healthy when living in a certain big space with comfortable temperature and ventilated condition, they also like to run or rest in a natural environment and  find food by themselves, if we do so, then we respect chicken's nature and follow the law of nature. If people raise chickens mainly for the maximum of profit, so they compress their living space and breed them with unhealthy food,  not care about their living environment and situation, this is cruel behaviors and “abuse" animals, they are doing evil because they didn't revere the life beings on earth.

I am sorry for did not response to you in time, dear Sunshine. 

Not sure how much merits one will get by freeing captive animals, but my feeling is anyone does that will not care how much merits they get, they do it because that is the way they are, they are loving and have a warm heart that care all life beings.

If someone do it for merits, it gets nothing to do with self-cultivation.
As to connection between freeing captive animals and self-cultivation, I don't think there is any if we don't do it selflessly.
If we don't free ourselves, what's the use of freeing captive aniamals?
Most people enven didn't realize that we are the ones need to be freed.

Hi Sunshine, nice to meet you here. Well, I don't know how to measure the merits, but I think it is a kind behavior for human beings to free captive animals. It shows the love of human beings. 

Posted by: Ivy

If someone do it for merits, it gets nothing to do with self-cultivation.
As to connection between freeing captive animals and self-cultivation, I don't think there is any if we don't do it selflessly.
If we don't free ourselves, what's the use of freeing captive aniamals?
Most people enven didn't realize that we are the ones need to be freed.

Most people enven didn't realize that we are the ones need to be freed.

-- Well said. We are stuck by the old programs,they are mainly family, nation, country, religion.