Animals Against Use Of Entertainment

Most people have come across animals used for entertainment purposes, whether it be in zoos or theme parks like Seaworld. Zoos and establishments like Seaworld attract millions of people year round, because what is more interesting than seeing an elephant, or an orca whale up close? In our society, is has become common for the public to travel to these types of places. They are seen as the perfect place to vacation for a day, or to just spend time with family. Children especially love to see exotic animals in person, rather than just reading about them, or watching shows about them. People do not often think that the animals they see in captivity are abused, or have low standards of living. However, the truth is that the lives animals have

As a child, many people would often go to the zoo or to the circus and see animals in real life. In circuses, animals would often perform tricks and stunts, dazzling the audience. In the zoo, people would often see animals in their native habitat, or what looks like it. Children were mainly amazed with the animals and were always exited to go see the animals. As the years go by, they start to realize that some of the animals are suffering and are being mistreated, especially in circuses. They see that the animals in zoos are depressed and lonely and the animals in the circuses are chained up. What is worse is that animals in laboratories are often treated very poorly; more poorly than what Americans treat prisoners and refugees. There have been many debates on whether animals should be held in captivity. Some groups believe that animals should not be held in captivity because they have the same capacities as humans. They believe that animals can feel emotion and have a sense of morality. Animals in captivity are deprived of their natural habitat and their instincts. Animals raised in captivity tend to rely more on humans compared to animals raised in the wild. They also believe zookeepers and trainers are putting themselves at risk when taking care of the animals. There have been many incidents including the death of trainers by animals, one highlighted by the movie “Blackfish” by director Gabriela Cowperthwaite. There are others who believe that putting animals in captivity is beneficial for not only the animal, but for humans as well. Humans get more jobs if more animals are put into captivity because there is an increase in the amount of people needed. Another benefit of keeping animals in captivity is that it could help save a species who is endangered and close to going extinct. Another benefit is that it helps increase the amount of food available because some animals are raised for food. Putting animals in captivity wrong unless they are being used for the animal’s benefits.

Zoos, SeaWorld, and circuses are places for families to enjoy entertainment. However, most people do not realize how the animals in each of these establishments are handled. Yes, they all bring in revenue and present the tricks these animals can do, yet these places preform detrimental acts to the animals. For example, the killer whales at SeaWorld are sometimes starved if they do not perform the way the trainer wants them to. In comparison, circuses torture lions and tigers until they are submissive to how the show-people want them to act. Zoos do not necessarily torture their animals, but it is proven the animals live much shorter lives in captivity. “Lives of animals in the wild versus captivity are literally worlds apart, and even the best captive facilities can’t recreate the conditions of the wild — not exactly. Most don’t even try, leaving animals in tiny enclosures with no socialization, enrichment or joy. Captivity is unnatural and unhealthy” (Sentenac). People are starting to recognize the danger of continuing these practices, but there’s a long way to go.Furthermore, animals in all of these places have suffered many traumatizing and even deadly events. There was a recent report that two circus lions, whom had severe head injuries, were killed by poachers who snuck into the sanctuary. “Last year poachers bypassed an advanced security system at a lodge near the town of Tzaneen in the Limpopo province, killing two lions by feeding them poisoned meat” (Graham).

Not many people think about how immoral it is for us humans to take animals from the wild and hold them captive for entertainment. Captive animals are often deprived of everything that is natural and important to them, and they experience captivity-related health problems as a result.

Movies, TV shows, circuses, and illegal gatherings in an old car garage are all places that animal abuse has taken place for the entertainment of humans. Since the 1900’s movie producers have been using animals in their productions (Dugas). Inhumane and unnecessary, are just two words that describe animal abuse, the use of animals for human entertainment is cruel and injustice.

All around the world, people are abusing animals. Animal cruelty is a big deal because some people do not look at animals as being important; some people do not see a problem with hurting them. Animal cruelty can be define as being a malicious treatment that can cause undue pain or being mistreated. Seeing an animal get brutalize by some humans seems to be cruel. Getting kicked in the ribs, left for starvation and even used for entertainment seems to be heartless. Why abuse animals when they have not done anything to harm a human. If one must see what they are really doing to these animals, then animal cruelty would not be a big deal.

Every 60 seconds an animal is abused. Dogs, cats, horses, and many other types of animals are being neglected and tortured everyday, yet resulting in few and minor consequences for the perpetrators. Animal abuse is prevalent in the United States and has been an ongoing issue since the 1970's, and prior to. Society as a whole has chosen to avoid the facts and arguments about animal cruelty, because to some it is seen as acceptable and typical. It becomes much more frowned upon when people actually see the results of the cruelty, especially in the media.

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 not here for our entertainment. They are living, breathing, beings that deserve a certain level of respect from a civilized society that is aware and understands the behaviors of these creatures. It seems barbaric to me that we continue to imprison wild animals that are never going to be domesticated--a fact that we are well aware of. The educational benefits that society receives from organizations such as SeaWorld is an invaluable experience, but I believe there are more humane ways to engage communities in the education and welfare of animals that are not native to us. I think it is a hard argument to make that I would not care about the wellbeing of an animal just because I had not seen it up close and personal. There are a variety of other ways to achieve the same

Animal abuse is something that has been around since ancient times. Even Aristotle, in his own way, abused animals. He believed that animals were merely possessions. Aristotle even wrote in his Great Chain of Being how he believed the species on earth were arranged in a hierarchy, with humans being at the top and animals at the bottom, and that those at the bottom were only meant to serve those above them (“Animal Rights”). However, because they believed in the transmigration of the soul between humans and animals, the Pythagoreans and Neo Platonists thought that people should respect animals and their interests. So while many people may not have treated animals

Humans use animals for their own entertainment: “Dancing bears were commonly made to perform in Eastern Europe and southern Asia and although this cruel practice is dying out, it persists in a few places” (Hoare and Jackson 45). Humans may think they are doing the best for the animal, but in reality they’re ruining its life.

Animals have a purpose in life and it’s not to entertain humans, they were put in the wild to survive. For instance, in the book “Animal Rights” by Christie Ritter, states that large animals who are forced to do tricks in front of people can injure themselves or anything around them, “Animal activists say that animals such as elephants, tigers, orcas, and bears should be made to perform stunts for human amusement” (Ritter 85). Unfortunately, in some places there isn’t as much animal activists and there are still shows continuing. Similarly, in the article “Why the Public Applauds the Dwindling Attraction of Animal Acts.” by Caitlin Gibson, she states that California’s SeaWorld is being strongly affected than in other places, “Despite plans to abandon the theatrical shows, the orcas are still there, held in captive tanks, Wise said. The shows will continue at SeaWorld’s other parks where the impact of public criticism hasn’t been quite as acute as in California” (Gibson 2). Despite all the criticism, there are people, especially children, who are inspired and educated by it all. For example, in the article “The big question: Should We Be Keeping Animals Such as Killer Whales in Captivity?” by Michael McCarthy states a counter argument about children who want to become a marine biologist or something similar because of aquariums,

Each year billions of animals are being tortured, blinded, scaled and used. Humans create these devastating events that occur. Animals experience pain and confusion throughout their life. There is great entertainment seeing animals in circuses and zoos but, there is a very dark side on how the animal performs. An elephant is beaten and trained until they are stripped from their spirit. Breeders are breeding large amount of animals, and shelters are becoming increasingly crowded. Animals are even sharing breathing space. The ignorance of our society is convincing that breeding animals are honorable. In reality, society is not just using animals for entertainment and breeding, but mass production of food. People are killing these animals

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.

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.