People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals Research Paper

“Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to,” said Alfred A. Montapert, the author of The Supreme Philosophy Of Man. Many animals who have given people their love have been cast off or mistreated. The Humane Society Of The United States(HSUS) has made it their mission since 1954 to prevent this cruelty before it happens. The four founders of HSUS Helen Jones, Larry Andrews, Marcia Glaser, and Fred Meyers, all believed in this mission. I believe that the Humane Society Of The United States has a worthwhile and honorable mission. It is one of the best. Not only does it save thousands of animal lives each year it also works with law enforcement to investigate illegal animal cruelty. HSUS has more than 10 million members and uses its money wisely. If you donate just $19 a month to HSUS you will be doing a grand service and you will join the revolution to stop animal cruelty before it happens. You will be a part of preventing some of the

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is one of the most recognizable organizations within the animal rights movement, due in part to their attention grabbing antics and controversial advertisements. While PETA has been successful in creating visual rhetoric that generally appeals to the audience’s cognitive reasoning and emotions they are often not successful in catalyzing actual change in behaviour.

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.

PETA, though it does many things, has four main objectives. They focus on animal cruelty on factory farms, which are also known as confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and intensive livestock operations (ILOs). These farms are more worried about profits and high volumes of goods than they are about human health, safe food, the environment, fair treatment of animals, and the surrounding economy (Factory Farms). PETA also focuses on cruel treatment to animals in laboratories, in the fur trade, and in the entertainment industry (like Khartoum). They also work on projects helping birds, beavers, and abused backyard dogs, as some examples. To reach the public, PETA uses many tactics, including working “through public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and direct action.” (PETA: Official Page). PETA tries to reach the public any way possible.

PETA’s main principle is that “Animals are not ours to consume, wear, experiment on, or for the use of our entertainment.” In layman’s terms, animals should be able live their lives without interference from humans.

As one of the most well-recognized animal rights organizations, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known as PETA, uses different rhetorical techniques in order to convey their message that “it is the right of all beings - human and non-human - to be free of harm.” (peta.org) PETA has made a significant impact on the animal rights movement over the past 36 years through their persistence, campaigning, and advocating for animal rights. According to PETA’s website they focus their attention on the four areas which produce the greatest amount of animal suffering: factory farms, the clothing trade, laboratories, and the entertainment industry. “Creative appeals of an advertisement [determine] the persuasive style of the message content. Message content consists of what is stated in the ad as well as the manner in which it was said. Persuasive or creative appeals of advertisements have been depicted in numerous ways including fear, humor, sex, and intellectual appeals” (Bebko, and Sciulli 23). PETA fights for ethical advancements with regard to humane treatment for animals while attempting to elicit the same compassion a person would have for another human being. It is the goal of PETA’s unorthodox rhetoric in videos, exposes, protests and campaigns to acknowledge animals rights issues to

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.

In the last ten months alone, a prominent animal welfare group called PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has released over seventeen videos on Facebook speaking out against circuses. The most popular of these activist’s videos has been viewed by over 5.5 million people. Animal welfare groups seem mostly concerned with the natural inclination of wildlife. When describing the circus, almost every animal activist group has at some point brought up just how unnatural the behaviors required for performance animals to display appears, when they are entertaining an audience in a show. Niedrich from Michigan State University’s Law department has cited in her article the behaviors of tigers who are naturally fearful of fire jumping through burning hoops, and elephants, the largest land mammal in the world, balancing on tiny pedestals, as examples of unnatural behaviors. This implies that activists like Niedrich define unnatural as; behaviors displayed by animals that goes against wild instincts, or behaviors observed in free roaming animals that lack human involvement. Niedrich specifically stated

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.

Animals in captivity are being forced to perform for human entertainment, but have to go through different forms of mistreatment to succeed in their performances. When it comes to billion dollar companies, such as, SeaWorld Entertainment and Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus, abuse their animals at a very young age in return of profit from admission ticket sales. The Animal Welfare Act regulates housing, exhibiting, care, licensing, and care for animals in captivity. Although, it only provides minimal standards of the care for these animals. This act does not prohibit the use of different instruments like a bullhook, electric pods, and other devices that are commonly used in the treatment of the elephants in the Ringling

They can not only injure patrons of the circus like in the case of Troy Ramsey who was attacked by an elephant named Kenya, but they can injure themselves. http://articles.latimes.com/1994-10-11/news/mn-49101_1_captive-elephant A circus zebra named Lima escaped from his confines and was chased for 40 minutes before being captured. He suffered serious injuries and had to be euthanized. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/03/lima-zebra-ringling-bros-circus-escape-euthanized.html Overall, there have been more and more cases of animals attacking patrons and staff. Supporters of the Animal Welfare Act believe that these animals are retaliating for abuse and

Whit Honea, cofounder of Dads4Change.com and a father of two boys, said they generally don’t attend circuses because of the “abusive treatment” of the animals” (Wallace, 2016) It’s like the old saying, “how would you like it if they did that to you?” If you were compelled to be seized from your family and raised only to be examined at and trained to do tricks in front of different simulated people every day for your entire life. The outside world, only to be an enigma forever. Evidently, the life of a zoo animal can be relatable to the state of being behind bars in a prison until your days come to an end. This being said, our impending generation’s perception is that wild animals rights and the freedoms they deserve is way more essential than the amusement people get when the witness exotic animals up close and personal in a limited facility which they lay in

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