Circus Animal Abuse Research Paper

This is good news for elephant lovers everywhere, but for the lions, tigers, monkeys, and bears it’s not something to celebrate. Although the big, colorful tents and cheery music may draw a crowd, circuses are notoriously known for the treatment of their animals, and for good reason, too. According to DoSomething.org, “virtually 96 percent of a circus animal’s life is spent in chains or cages” (“11 Facts”). These cages have no separate area for eating, sleeping or defecating, which can lead to sickness, irritability, and even death. When not performing, the time spent out of these cages is to teach the animals to perform outlandish tasks, using training methods such as whipping, food deprivation, and electric prods (“11 Facts”).

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.

After evaluating the physical and mental abuse, starvation and dehydration, and illnesses that these animals undergo, it is inarguable that they should not be used in a circus

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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 .

When you see an animal do a trick for you, you may think that it is amazing an animal can do that, but the training in some cases that animals go through to perform those tricks is inhumane. Snake charming is when a snake appears to dance to the music of a flutist. How the flutist gets the snake to do this is where the problem occurs. Physical abuse is the way the trainer gets the snake to act in this matter (manner?) and the snake is moving in fear of the moving flute (Tiplady 2013). Another type of animal training that involves abuse is when it comes to dancing bears. The bears are taken from their mothers at a young age and put through unnecessary pain. The young bears are castrated and have their canines removed. A rope is then is inserted through their muzzle and the pulling of the rope is what causes the bear to dance (Tiplady 2013).

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.

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 amount of risk that the circus performers have to deal with on a daily basis is flat out remarkable. They look a death and danger and smile like its nothing to them. Only a special group of people to have enough courage, or as some might say “stupidity” to do this line of work and love it. But the greatest thing of all about them is that they don't care how dangerous something is, if they think they can do it, they will do what ever it takes to accomplish it. We can all learn from that kind of

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