Animal Disbandment Discourse

and Barnum & Bailey Circus—North America’s longest-running animal- circus—is finally packing up and leaving town, never to return.” Now some of us may really enjoy circus’s, don’t actually know the scary truth behind them. We don’t want to think that those animals are in harm, or that they are being treated cruelly. We want to think of them as fun, entertaining, enjoyable, breathtaking, mind-blowing stunts that the normal person couldn’t, or wouldn’t even think about doing.

A little girl got lost behind a circus on her way to the bathroom, only to come out and see an elephant being hooked and whipped by multiple grown men at the same time. She noticed it was the same elephant that tripped on stage 5 minutes before. I could have been that little girl, and I know I'd be terrified to ever go back to a circus or zoo again. As an animal lover, I wanted to see something done about the situation. It’s not fair to animals. Circuses shouldn’t even be a thing. Animals deserve a fair life in the wild where they belong. They shouldn’t have to be absolutely terrified every time they make the even smallest mistake. While researching this topic I found I had few questions that weren’t answered in any articles. How long has this been going on? Why haven’t people tried to fix this earlier? But there was one question, my driving question, the one I really wanted an answer to. It was: What can I do to help animals around the world from being abused in entertainment? After researching through videos, articles, and podcasts I’ve found that there aren’t many that had solutions, but there are still many possible solutions.

In the article “PETA urges L.A. to ban all wild animals from circus performances”, Alexia Fernandez highlights the speed with which animal activists go in order to free wild animals from being used in circuses. According to the spokesman for the Ringling Bros, after L.A. “banned circuses from using bullhooks to manage elephants” in 2014, PETA activists demanded that circuses remove wild animals from their performances and Barnum & Bailey Circus begged to differ by arguing that animals in their facilities are taken good care of and are not mistreated (Fernandez, 2016). In conclusion, both sides of the arguments believe that neither is misinformed.

In the 1900s, circuses were extremely popular and prevalent in the west. During the downfall of the circus industry, “wealthy industrialists and professionals who loved the circus formed the Circus Fans Associations…whose motto, “We fight anything that fights the circus,” summed up its philosophy” (Pfening 24). Ironically, it is proven that “the last twenty-five years of the nineteenth century was the apogee [or the climax] of the American circus” (Pfening 5). People were attracted to the charismatic spirit of the circus during the anguish and despair that came along with the Great Depression.

The circus has been around for many years, but in recent years the circus has been getting a bad rap. The most famous circus in the United States, which started under the big top, will be closing after a amazing 146 year run. Barnum and Baily will be closing due to animal rights activists, which fought them in many expensive court battles that ending their world famous elephant acts. For a long time, the circus was a dream for kids to have fun and watch the impossible be done. The first cirus were in Europe, but Americans gave their spin on them which included collapsible tents, so they can move on the go.

In Savages and Beasts: Chapter 3, Nigel Rothfels describes the modern cageless zoo as resulting from animal entrepreneur Carl Hagenbeck as well as the purpose’s behind Hagenbeck’s popularity. Hagenbeck’s creation of “people shows” are described as appearing to resemble the natural environments of its inhabitants. The author describes Hagenbeck’s capturing and transporting of exotic animals along with the economic struggles that came with the growing success of an overproduction of animals and deflating prices. In response, circuses, or “people shows” came about; consisting of people whose life styles were different from their audience as well as animals, tents and household and hunting equipment. Hagenbeck’s circus exhibits were described

People have looked to these shows for family tradition, entertainment, and the lively atmosphere. Circus supporters confide in the facade that the circuses present to them: “We are committed to ensuring our animal family receives the highest standards of care. [...] Our animals receive better medical care than we do” (Ringling Bros). It is easy to believe the claims that these renowned companies tell the public, but in this case, the stories and accusations from former employees, animal welfare associations, governmental organizations, and even regular members of society should not be overlooked. It is obvious that circus animals do not live in the conditions that circuses advertise.

Think about how we will look back on our cruel forms of entertainment in the future. Will we be proud of the way we treated these great animals, with abuse as neglect? Today we turn our heads away from reality and what happens behind the scenes of animal entertainment. However, we can’t turn our heads forever. Around the world, there is so much more to animal entertainment than what meets the eye. These animals have been torn away from their beautiful, natural homes and brought to a prison of concrete. In these prisons, they are beaten, starved and tortured all for our money and entertainment. These animals lives should not be taken from them for us. Our money and happiness should not be worth these animal’s lives. Circus, theme park and zoo animals all suffer from aggression towards trainers, mental disabilities and physical injuries. These animals should not have to suffer any longer.

The article “Animal Activists Finally Have Something To Applaud At Ringling Bros. Circus: Its Closure”, by Amy B. Wang and published by The Washington Post is about Ringling Brothers and Bailey Circus coming to an end. It shows that animal rights groups have strong emotions towards abusing animals for entertainment. Shortly after Feld Entertainment (A production company and owner of Ringling Brothers and Bailey Circus) stopped using elephants but shortly after Ringling Brothers announced their permanent leave from the circus.

Animal captivity has been an ongoing debate for over 60 years. There should be no question about whether animal captivity is wrong. “Hundreds of thousands of wild animals across the world are snatched from natural habitats, forced into captivity and subjected to abuse, both mentally and physically, in the name of entertainment and profit.” (World Animal Protection 1) Places such as the circus use abusive training methods such as, hooks, chains, whips, electric rods, and blunt instruments. (Born Free USA 1) Animals deserve to live freely in the wild. Their freedom is taken away the moment they are put in a cage. When animals are brought into

Around the world, animals are an important aspect of the entertainment industry. They are seen in movies, zoos, aquariums, circuses, and even in cultural events such as Spanish bullfighting. However, despite all the joy and profit these various companies and organization produce, there is great discrepancy among the many standards of animal welfare implemented in each institution. Different organizations accredit companies with their own set of requirements. It is clear that a uniform system of accrediting animal entertainment should be implemented to ensure animal safety and wellbeing (Hutchins, 2003). Inside and outside of the United States there are organizations taking advantage of a lack of enforcement of welfare standards to abuse animals for profit (Colier, 2015). Animals are left to suffer as corporations rake in the cash. There be a stricter enforcement of animal safety and an adoption of a uniform policy that covers all areas of animal entertainment.

There are many types of animals used for entertainment such as circuses, dog fighting, zoos, and rodeos. All of these types of entertainment are not natural for these animals which is a form of abuse. Often times they are wild animals that don’t belong in cages and are not able to do things that are in their instinct to do. This is especially true about zoos and circuses. Animals are not able to roam free and instead kept in small cages. Even in optimal settings experts say that it is difficult to provide for the needs of wild animals.(Lemonick) Children should learn to respect animals and not see them as entertainment. People should only support animal free circuses and raise awareness how animals are abused for entertainment.

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..

Animals have been a main focus in circus performances around the world for many centuries; however, in recent history, there have been far more regulations put on the use of these creatures, stemming mainly from how they are treated by both their trainers and the circus as a whole. Whether it be on the federal or local and state-level, there has been a definite increase in the questionable legality of America’s circus industry due to the neglect and abuse of the participating animals, courts’ decisions highlighting the true importance of the issue. These rulings make one ask the question: What types of regulations could be put in place in all circuses to ensure that the animals involved are not abused in the process? In the end, many

The single thought that the biggest terrain animals are controlled with the help of arboriculture tools is a vicious paradox, as well as the simple fact that these huge animals are supposed to spend all the time either in tiny as for their size cages or under bright floodlight projector. There is no way to talk about any ethics concerning such realities of entertainment business. It is not even compatible to any sense. Thus, about 30 protestant participants decided to start demonstration on the steps of City Hall. A circus is not a new issue of concern, it has always been on radar of animal defenders. While PETA tries to remind one more time that the majority of practices are outdated, there are circus owners and managers, trying to prove that “whips are only used for theatrical purposes, not to hurt the animal”, they know how to take care of their animals, and “PETA is entitled to its own opinion” (Fernandez, 2016). Unfortunately, the majority does not consider this issue to be as important as pollution or health related problems until it affects people directly. “A bullfighter died in July after being gored, the first matador to die in the ring in the country for more than 30 years” (BBC, 2016). During these 30 years activists tried to convince the public that bullfighting should be banned, as it is unethical way of entertainment. They received more attention only after this accident.