Circus Animal Abuse Research Paper

Circus performers are people of great courage. They have to make a living out of entertaining people that pay good money to watch them and want to get their money's worth. They have a lot of pressure from that, as well as peer pressure from their fellow performers. Not only do they have pressure from that, they have to worry about the very acts being preformed from playing with swords and fire to hanging from a wire hundreds of feet in the air. If their not focused on what they are doing, they can be killed in a instant.

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.

Not only do the animals get hurt from animal entertainment, the trainers do too. Many wild animal trainers suffer from injuries or even fatalities. Many zoo, circus, and theme park workers get seriously injured from these wild animal’s “revenge”. Injuries from animals in captivity, like large cats, are very common. After being cooped up, in cages and trains, it would be expected for these wild animals to be aggressive towards humans. Since 1990 there have been at least 123 attacks on humans from caged, large cats. Most of us see just the “kill” part of these facts and portray these

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

Animals in circuses include bears, elephants, tigers, etc. Animals in entertainment perform difficult tricks that on not in their nature. Many circuses get away with abusing their animals because there are no government agency monitors at the training sessions, however, many undercover videos have found that circuses do indeed abuse their animals. Circuses are constantly traveling, which means that the animals are always stuck in vehicles and cages, sometimes days at a time. Officer Blayne Doyle, who had killed an elephant named Janet in 1992, stated “I have discovered, much to my alarm, that once an elephant goes out of control, nothing can be done.

The dog Hercules was the stunt dog in this scene where he jumped in to save a little girl. The day of filming the dog did not want to perform the stunt.

They are taken away from their families which hurts them emotionally. They are raised by humans who are trained to care for them, but they cannot substitute for the love of their mates. In addition, some of the animals that are born in a circus environment do not understand who they are or what group they belong to. For instance, if you take a tiger or elephant that has been living in the circus for most of their lifetime and bring it back to their original habitat, they will not be able to survive. They will not understand what is to hunt or to survive in the wild. Bentham explained, “You should be motivated to act, not for the sake of your own pleasure, but also for the sake of others’ pleasures, too.” A circus can entertain large crowds, but at the end of the day, circus representatives are taking animals from their natural habitats to pleasure others and they have no right to do so. Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey’s circus made a great ethical decision to support the animals’ rights and support that animals should not be used for entertainment anymore.

Premise 4: Poor caretaking puts the health of both animals and the surrounding people in danger. Animals in Circus Performances, Cute or Cruel? Circuses are filled with fun, wild acts including amazing acrobats, comedic clowns, and exotic animals. But unlike human entertainers, animals do not choose the circus life; they are unluckily forced into it.

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.

It is important to stand up in what you believe in because if I do not I would probably be in jail or something like that. The things that I stand up in what I believe is animal abuse.

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.

According to PeTA , The tricks that animals are forced to perform—such as when bears balance on balls, apes ride motorcycles, and elephants stand on two legs—are physically uncomfortable and behaviorally unnatural. The whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks, and other tools used during circus acts are reminders that the animals are being forced to perform.

In a article I discovered “The Harsh Reality Of Animal In Circuses” it goes on to state how the trainer puts ropes and chains around the baby elephant legs , tears them away from their mothers at early ages and pokes them with heavy steel devices that resembles as fireplace pokers . In the article -Sam Haddock an retired Ringling Trainer goes on to express how the pokers ( bull hooks ) are used for only one purpose only and that’s to inflict pain and punishment to the animals and that animals around the world are being caged and tortured. The poem “Panther” by “Rainer Maria Rilke “ He wrote the poem as a concerned citizen with the capturing images and emotions to the readers how the panther felt , Rainer had an effect rhythm he established in his poem that flowed his poem to become evident when you read it aloud , the poem “Panther” consist of three stanzas .

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