Animal Essay : Living Life As A Circus Animals

Many animals in entertainment often get abused for the slightest mistakes, they get abuse from slashing to even being killed Circus animals are shocked, slashed with sharp hooks, whipped, beaten with clubs and even starved.

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.

Screams. That’s all I could hear when everything went black. I do not know how, but I am currently lying on the frigid damp asphalt. I hear familiar voices in the distance, and the voices are full of dismay. I recognize the voices as Anastasia’s and my parents. I have an abundant amount of unanswered questions. Why is everyone terror-stricken? How did I get here? Why am I unable to move?

Throughout the years, we have been made to believe that wildlife in the entertainment industry is captivating. Even though these animals may seem to be happy and healthy, the truth is the majority of these animals suffer a great amount of abuse. SeaWorld and the Circus have made a name for themselves, by claiming that he/she provides a safe a friendly environment. However, what is not shown during these performance acts is the abuse these animals suffer, or the amount of stress and anxiety the animals are under. Wildlife in captivity for exotic animals can cause a serious amount of stress along with abuse, anxiety which can lead to a fatal result for the animals and the people who take care of them.

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.

Animals are used for entertainment, “Animals aren’t actors, spectacles to imprison and gawk at, or circus clowns. Yet thousands of these animals are forced to

Imagine being in a circus ring watching tigers and lions leaping through blazing rings of fire, elephants standing on their heads, and monkeys riding red bicycles for a colossal crowd of screaming, cheering fans. The elephant’s exhausted, worn body is swamped with intricately designed drapes. The sweet, endearing smell of fresh cotton candy and popcorn fills the air with excitement. When the show has reached the grand finale and has come to an end, a trainer arrives with a bull hook and thrusts it into the elephant’s side. Bloody wounds are all over its body from the mistreatment of the circus industry. This is the life that circus animals live each and every day. The animals are mistreated on a routine basis and are crammed into small boxcars for more than three-fourths of their life, serving the public for a moment of entertainment each night. The life of a circus animal is one of pure, unending misery. The use of animals in circus shows is inhumane because they are a threat to public health, and they are mistreated when outside of the public eye.

For several generations, animals have been entertaining humans. From sitting in zoo exhibits to being paraded around in flashy circuses, animals, especially exotic ones, have drawn large audiences. A close look at a ferocious lion or a dancing elephant wearing a headdress is often what captivates people, since these spectacles are often unusual and fascinating. However, for lions to be viewed up close and elephants to dance, they must be held captive and trained for desired behavior. This captivity and training raises a question: is captivity detrimental to global animal ecology and health? Many animal activists claim that captivity is abusive, but animal entertainment organizations, such as zoos, circuses, and animal theme parks, promote environmental health through ecological education of children and adults as well as funding research for conservation.

Have you ever been to a circus? Traveling shows are famous for their colorful tents, crowded atmosphere, and comical acts. Most of all, they are loved for their animals. Dogs ride unicycles and dress up as clowns; seals wear makeup and balance balls on their noses; elephants, horses, and cats perform dances for the entertainment of the crowd. But what is really going on behind the painted smiles and frilly costumes? Many circuses have long bloody histories of animal neglect and abuse, unbeknownst by the adoring children who watch with awe. Circuses all over the world are inhumane in their treatment of animals, keeping wild animals in close confines, regularly abusing their animals, and withholding veterinary services when needed.

When adults take their children to the circus, they expect their child to be mesmerized. What is there for a child not to be captivated by? Between the dazzling display of lights, the vast amount of animals, and the entertaining clowns all over the place, the circus is a great experience for any child. While the tigers are jumping through hoops of fire, the elephants are being prepared to go out into the center ring. The audience is going wild and the children are screaming in excitement. Before the elephants begin their march into the ring, the trainers, behind the scenes, take one last hit at them with their bull hooks. One elephant trumpets in pain as the hook gashes its skin. While all this is going on, a lion is imprisoned in a cage

One very famous circus is The Ringling Brothers Circus. The Ringling Brothers year baby elephants away from their mothers right after they are born. When the baby elephants are taken away they go to a building with concrete floors and are forced to stand there for twenty-three hours a day, without even being able to turn around, and they have to do this for six months straight. After those tretrious months, the trainers use bullhooks, ropes, and electric prods to get the young elephants to do what they want them to. This training is unmonitored by any agency of any kind. Elephants are beaten for any slight disobedience. After the trainers beat them into “better performers” they normally have wounds from the hooks, prods, and ropes, that they cover up with “wonder dust” so the inspectors can't see them. Another thing they do After the elephants are trained is chain them up and make them stay like that the whole time they are not training. When traveling they have to be in a box car with other animals for up to one hundred hours straight. Since the Ringling Brothers Circus is so famous, it has gotten a lot of prospectors in every town they go to. The horrible circus is about to be taken down since more people hate they way they treat their animals then the small majority that actually want to watch their shows.(www.Peta.com.

The smell of cotton candy and popcorn in the air and screams of happy children filling your ears. You see elephants, tigers and a whole variety of exotic animals performing tricks to stun the audience. However, as the circus packs up for the next city, many people are blindsided to what happens behind the scenes. Some argue that circuses are fun and lighthearted. However, the sad truth is that the poor animals you just saw perform a magnificent show, are being held in a unjustful state of captivity. Circuses can cause damage to animals, being kept in cages can cause mental problems, and animals are forced to do their unusual activity. Therefore, circuses are not good.

Animals being caged, hit, poked, and prodded is a normal part of circus and zoo life. Wild animals are not meant to be a form of entertainment, and should not be our captives unless necessary for their health. P.T. Barnum opened what became arguably one of the most controversial circuses in modern times in 1871, and three years later, America’s first zoo followed. In the past one hundred years, very few things have changed in the way animals in such establishments are treated and trained.

Training is another concern. Physical punishment has long been the standard training method for animals in circuses. These methods are simply cruel. They include the use of electric prods, whips, and even some animals especially large cats, have their teeth removed. Bears balancing on balls, apes riding motorcycles, elephants standing on two legs are acts that are physically uncomfortable and behaviorally unnatural. Such “performances” do not teach audiences about how animals behave under normal circumstances. Instead, they are often portrayed as ferocious and stupid.

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