Poor Treatment of Circus Animals The life of a circus animal is hard and demanding. It is not an acceptable way of life for an animal. Circuses would quickly lose their appeal if the public were more aware of their mistreatments of these animals. Many circuses do not have much money and as a result the animals suffer from inadequate care. These animals spend most of their time in small cages used for transportation. The Animal Welfare Act provides cage requirements, but many circuses fail to follow this law. Even the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus was cited for 65 violations over a two-year period according to Florence Lambert. When traveling, animals spend hours, even days between sites in confinement.. A water supply is not always readily available in all locations, leaving many animals with out water. Furthermore, with out water, cleaning becomes a low priority. This is very hard on animals especially elephants who bathe frequently in their natural environment. But, the circus environment is very different from an animal’s natural habitats. Summer can be hard on...
It is so easy to become complacent in our sheltered world and to turn the other cheek to the violence and misery that our every life decision can perpetrate, and that the majority of the country (mostly unknowingly) buys into. The fact is that if the horrors of the meat industry were common knowledge, the business would decrease, and drastically at that. So, to keep the knowledge from becoming widespread, meat and animal factory farms are content to work quietly and discreetly in the sparsely-populated back corners of the country where no one can see what is being done without making an active effort. The problem for them is, many people have been making an active effort- as the animal cruelty cause became more mainstream, the US saw a huge increase in the investigative journalism aimed at uncovering the flaws of factory farming. These findings have been explosive, and have led to animal rights legislation , (although sadly, this legislation does not protect all animals). This boom in investigation led most factory farms to close down plants to the outside world, no longer allowing tours or photography and dramatically increasing the security during the hiring process in an attempt to eliminate undercover journalists. Representatives of the factory farm industry claim that they they work out in the middle of nowhere and have increased security for the welfare of the animals; however, this is clearly not the case. They are covering up the overcrowding, the starvation, and the misery that the world is all too happy to ignore, as long as ignoring it means that they can continue on with their lifestyle. The truth is that there is no such thing as a “happy” factory farm animal- even the supposedly “ethically treated” animals, the free ...
The morality of using animals for the purpose of human entertainment has long since been a divisive, polarising issue, and one to which there is no clearly defined solution. Debates on this issue commonly question the ethical responsibilities humans have to animals, and, subsequently, whether or not animals deserve to be afforded the same ethical treatment as humans. This is perhaps most evident in the extensive, subjective and widespread debate regarding the ethical acceptability of utilising circus animals for human entertainment. Many would argue that the entertainment benefits gained by humans outweigh the detrimental effects on the animals. However, conversely, it has been proposed that circuses knowingly harm these animals both physically and psychologically. This essay will argue that owning and training circus animals to perform for human entertainment is a blatantly unacceptable practice from an ethical perspective, and, hence, that humans have an obligation to appropriately uphold the ethical rights of circus animals. In doing so, three main points will be argued. Firstly, investigations will be undertaken to gauge the quality of life of circus animals. More specifically, the treatment and training methods of circus animals will be examined to demonstrate that these practices are both unnecessary and cause physical suffering to the animals. Secondly, legislation pertaining to the treatment of circus animals will be explored. Subsequently, human attitudes and behaviours towards circus animals will be investigated, while social ignorance and apathy towards the treatment of circus animals will be discussed, to display that these laws do not adequately protect circus animals. Finally, the sentience of animals will be inve...
No More Puppy Mills There are so many things that the breeders do to the puppies in puppy mills in very inhumane ways. To understand how puppy mills operate, one must know the facts about animal abuse, why they operate, and how to prevent the use of puppy mills. Where are the largest production centers in the United States? How are the dogs treated? What about the lasting effects on the animals' lives?
This story Animal Farm by George Orwell is a novel about an animal revolution over an oppressive farmer. The irony in the story comes when the pigs turn into the very thing revolted against. They exhibit the same cruelty by treating the other animals the same or even worse than previous owners. This cycle of cruelty is shown in the Russian revolution by Joseph Stalin who is represented by Napoleon in the story. Cruelty in animal farm is shown by the human’s treatment of the animals, and the animal’s eventual treatment of each other and the ironic characteristics of the two.
Since the beginning of the modern day circus in the early 20th century millions of Americans have enjoyed the performances by both the people and the animals that perform for our entertainment. However, the audience is blinded by shock and awe of the show from what really happens behind the curtain. Animal cruelty, poor living conditions, and lack of legal regulation scars the animals and becomes very dangerous to the overall health of the animals and those who are around them. The mistreatment of animals in circuses has been occurring for far too long, and new laws need to be implemented in an effort to prevent future acts of cruelty toward these animals.
Attention getter: Lion, tigers, and bears, oh my! When the circus comes rolling into town, many people are excited to go and that is all that is talked about; about the clowns, the trapeze artists, the ring leader, the elephants and all the other marvelous wonders of the circus. But would you all still be excited to go if you knew the truth about the circus and the animal trainers of how they treat the animals? Because in reality, for our spirits to raise at the circus, they break the spirits of all the animals, especially the elephants.
Currently there are three main legislations affecting and protecting the welfare of wild animals in travelling circuses, The Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the performing Animals (regulation) Act 1925, (DEFRA,2013; Rees,2013). The legislations in place recognise that both wild a...
Animals should not be held captive in zoos because it is inhumane and unfair to the animals. There are so many records of terrible things that have happened to animals in zoos over the past few centuries, the go under the radar too often. Too few people even know about these animal care atrocities, and therefore the New York Times decided to bring light upon this situation. The Times did a first-of-its-kind analysis of 390 elephant fatalities at accredited U.S. zoos over the past 50 years (Berens 3). It found that most of the elephants died from injury or disease linked to conditions of their captivity, from chronic foot problems caused by standing on hard surfaces to musculoskeletal disorders from inactivity caused by being penned or chained for days and weeks at a time.
Even though some zoos have an endangered species exhibit with the intention of protecting and rehabilitating animals, many do not do an adequate job of protecting the animals. Zoos have been harmful to the very animals they have sworn to protect. Animals in captivity often suffer from anxiety, boredom and other severe issue related to prolonged confinement. Most animals are unable to thrive in small enclosure with unnatural weather and climates. For example elephants are known to walk as far as 30 miles per day, but the association of Zoos and aquariums only require a space the measures $0 feet by 45 feet, which is about the size of a three car garage, to house these large animals. (peta.org) the drastic difference in the amount of space their allowed ...
There are some incidents where lions in a zoo were kept in cramped for 18 hours a day, elephants were being trained with 4,500 electrode volt groads, animals were being disposed in the trash cans. Lions spent 48 percent of the time pacing around. Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to interfere with animals and keep them locked up in captivity, where they are bored, cramped, lonely, deprived of all control over their lives, and far from their natural homes. At the Virginia Zoo, 10 prairie dogs died when their tunnel collapsed, a rhinoceros drowned in the moat of her exhibit, and a zebra narrowly escaped death after jumping into the lion exhibit, while another lost her life when she bolted from a holding pen, struck a fence, and broke her neck.
The article “Animals Used as Entertainment” lists rodeos, circuses, bullfighting, horse racing, cockfighting, dog fighting, and zoos as examples of the many ways animals are used in entertainment. Circuses and zoos are the two most relevant forms of animal mistreatment. Both of these are sources of entertainment for children and adults. Zoos declare that the...
Alatola, E 2011, The ethics of animal circuses, The Captive Animals’ Protection Society, Manchester, UK.
Zoos, circuses, and aquariums have been around for many years. Families across the planet flock to these facilities to have an entertaining day in the great outdoors. Mothers and father show their children the beautiful, exotic animals at these places in a hope to educate them on the wonders of the world. The general public holds places like the San Diego Zoo, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and SeaWorld in high esteem. Sadly, most are unaware of the injustices against wild animals in these facilities. Animal rights activists fight for the rights of exotic animals in an attempt to free them from zoos, circuses and aquariums. Organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) publicly protest these facilities. PETA says on their website that animals thrust into the world of entertainment never chose that life. Zoos, circuses, and aquariums are cruel and unjust facilities for animals to be in, and they should be disbanded.
Some aspects of Animal abuse are completely avoidable, the cruelty brings no scientific knowledge, food, or testing. In the entertainment industry “wild and exotic animals are trained through the use of intimidation and physical abuse. Former circus employees have reported seeing animals beaten, whipped, poked with sharp objects and even burned to force them to learn their routines!”(dosomething) Cruelty for entertainment is not a fair trade by any means.
They are pressured into completing harmful acts, as well as maneuvering their bodies in ways that are anomalous. Acts such as these tend to cause distress in the circus animals. Instead of supporting circuses that use animals in their shows, people should support animal-free circuses. Animal-free circuses feature spectacular shows without harming any animals.