The Pros And Cons Of PETA

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).

In 2003, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) released a campaign called ‘Holocaust on Your Plate’. This display compared pictures of animals in a slaughterhouse against pictures of Nazi concentration camp. This campaign stemmed from Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer, who wrote: ‘In relation to them [animals], all people are Nazis; for them it is an eternal Treblinka’ — a death camp in Poland” (CNN, 2003). It’s meant to emotionally target the viewer, similar to a scare tactic. It was also deeply insulting to many holocaust survivors. I believe this was a poor decision on PETA’s part, and the bad definitely outweighed the good for everyone.

The article “After SeaWorld, a ‘Blackfish effect’ on circuses and zoos?” discusses SeaWorld’s decision to no longer “housing killer whales,” and “ending its breeding program,” along with its effect on the world and the amount of animals in captivity. Following SeaWorld's announcement, circuses across the globe began to express their banishment of animals from the shows. A big one being Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, who announced that “it would no longer tour with elephants.” Zoos had also stated they “have banned the use of the bullhook,” on elephants. However, Seaworld’s decision hadn’t just affected circuses and zoos, but the public also reacted with conflicted feelings. The article takes a shift to parents, who expressed their

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.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus has recently declared the end of their career and disbanded the circus. Since the disbandment an ongoing discussion concerning the circus and its ethics has been widely discussed by many different groups; but disagreement can be most strongly seen between the discourse of animal welfare groups, and the circus performers themselves. The topics being addressed is how these different populations perceives the events surrounding the circus’s disbandment and what is actually more beneficial for the circus animals and the performers in the long run after the greatest show on Earth is over. The discontinuities often seen among these two groups when the circus is discussed are: the languages of unnatural behavior, abuse, the description of culture, sports, art, along with the

Some organizations such as FFA do not support PETA and as result PETA tries to demoralize and discourage FFA members that what we are doing in our program is morally wrong and unjust. Sure this comes as a big shocker that PETA can't stand the FFA it is one of the largest student led organizations in the world so they may feel a little threatened. Speaking as a current FFA member I can strongly say that PETA does not understand what the FFA does for the world, chapters and individuals around the world. If you didn’t know FFA stands for FFA stands for Future Farmers of America.

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.

PETA, people for the ethical treatment of animals, are the main villain to the heroes of this story, dairy farmers. The story starts out like every other, a happy beginning when a pregnant cow gives birth. As you watch the calf take the first tentative steps, you begin thinking of how adorable the calf is and let the calf suckle its mother to get colostrum, the protein and antibody filled milk humans do not drink. In the instance the calf is a heifer, a female, you take her off her mom after three days to ensure she got all the nutrients then you move the calf to a calf pen and begin bottle feeding while the cow is sent to the milking parlor; the bulls will be fed and raised to be send to a feedlot.

In the article “PETA Should Rethink Its Campaign against Animal Research,” by Jamie L. Vernon, explains that animal testing is a source for finding new treatments for many diseases. The article states that some treatments for diseases involving genetic, and the nervous system can only be found through animal testing. The article also states that even though animals are being killed in the experiment, it is a necessary action to take. The article tells that the ban on animal testing would “significantly impair” the research for new treatments. Article such as Susan Crowell “Animal research saves lives of both humans and animals,” published by Farm and Dairy contribute to the controversy by highlighting the need for animal testing.

The subject of my documentary film will be based on an American interest group called PETA. PETA stands for “people for the ethical treatment of animals”, it is an organization that stands against animal testing and abuse. Founded March 1980 by Ingrid Newkirk and Alex Pacheco, PETA’s motto remains to be "animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way." This interest group’s strong opposing stance on anything related to the animal usage norm or cruelty in our country, gives members of society a simple reason to support them: “since PETA stands against the mistreatment of animals they must be good.” I have chosen to document this particular subject matter because of the interesting ways PETA

This advertisement is without a doubt controversial. An anti-cruelty activist may have a very different view towards this billboard than someone who supports medical testing on animals. Many organizations such as PETA would view this advertisement as useless. This advertisement should not change the minds of people about the topic of medical research, also it's not necessary. People in the medical industry that are against animal testing have stated that this billboard perpetuates an unproven proposition that animals are essential to advancing human health, yet 90 percent of drugs that worked on animals failed in human trials. "The use of animals to test drugs and to study human diseases has been shown over decades to be a failed paradigm.” (Dr. John Pippin). To the extent we have methods already that can replace those, and many believe we should use them.

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..

Animal rights is the philosophy or idea that all animals should be able to live a life free from human exploitation pain and suffering. According to Gale ” The idea of animal rights has roots in ancient times. In Greek philosophy, the animists believed that both animals and people had souls. The vitalists believed that humans were animals but at the top of the chain and could use animals for their benefit.” ( Animals Rights, par.2). In the early twentieth century in the United States, there was no law that regards to animal experimentation. In 1937 there was a pharmaceutical company that developed medicine called Elixir Sulfanilamide. When the medicine was released the company was unaware that the substance was harmful because the drug

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