What Is Circus Animal Abuse

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).

The circus can be dated back to as far as 1782 in Paris, France, where people came to enjoy family friendly entertainment. The circus has always included tricks and stunts by not only people, but also highly trained animals. For decades now, people have considered the treatment of animal performances in the circus cruel and unjust. Protesters argue that animals are stripped from their native lands and forced to preform shows, meanwhile being treated harshly and abused by the human circus performers. Tigers, elephants, and other animals are trained and forced to entertain audiences by standing on their heads, jumping through hoops, and doing balance tricks. Spectators have considered this a spiteful treatment of animals, for it is often physically challenging and frightening to the animal performers. There have been reports of circus trainers abusing animal performers with whips, muzzles, and other painful tools.

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.

The constant abuse and cruelty these animals suffer would drive any animal to snap, which several already have. In 1994, a circus elephant in Hawaii, named Tyke, went on a rampage and killed her trainer. Unfortunately, Tyke’s break for freedom ended in gunfire and her death (Cave). It is hard to predict the actions of any wild animal, even elephants who have been nicknamed as gentle giants. Because of this, animals should be removed from circuses in order to prevent harm to trainers, onlookers in the crowd, and the animals

During this time period, there was little to no regulation of the circus crew or the animals. This was the situation in a Water for Elephants. To top it all off, the show was owned and operated by a money hungry and cruel person, who would do anything to save money such as not paying the workers, not feeding the workers, not giving the exotic animals proper care and the list goes on. But in the circus, the audience seem to buy into the performer's deceptions. The audience is completely oblivious and are deceived by this circus, but in reality the circus is not as perfect as they make it

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

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

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.

If the circuses do not use shock batons they use cages to hold the animals most of the time the animals are not performing. Circus animals should not be caged at all times because they need to move around, at least when they train daily. If proper conditions like exercise and feeding schedule are not met then the circus should not be allowed to get animals to

Circus is a travelling show that is often performed in a tent that includes trained animals, clowns , acrobats and other stunts performers. All of these performers needed to practise hard and as best as they can to make the show run smoothly , safetly and entertaining. As if they make a mistake, it could ruin their performance in any ways.

A crew member encouraged him to keep pushing. "He ain't gonna calm down until he gets in the water. You just gotta throw him in," says an off-camera voice in footage that caught the moment. This is proof that people are willing to force animals to do stuff they don’t want to do just for the purpose of entertainment.Also, many animals that perform in circuses have been separated from their families. That can cause the animals to become stressed out. They may attack their trainers or the audience. In the past few decades, there have been many accidents involving animals at circuses around the world. Which is more evidence that they will do anything to get good entertainment."Traveling circuses simply cannot provide animals with the facilities they need to lead happy and healthy lives," says Congressman Alan Lowenthal of California. And it will simply be impossible for animals to be treated fairly 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

Amusement parks, circuses, and zoos are places that are very popular and well-liked among tourists, or even locals. One thing they all have in common are performances that use captive wild animals to perform for the entertainment of humans. These places have shows involving different animals such as elephants, dolphins, and orcas. Many the times, the animals that perform are captured at a very young age and forcefully taken away from their families (Humane Decisions). They are not even treated acceptably at the very least. Us humans being the superior species, we capture and keep them in enclosures that are totally different from their natural habitat, with them being unable to fight back and free themselves. This is due to the fact that humans have greater control over animals. The trainers use whips and tasers to force the animals to perform tricks that they do not want to and are not born to do. These equipment are used for punishment- based training which make these animals experience emotional and physical abuse and trauma (onegreenplanet.org).These harmful actions done unto the animals leave the animals both physically and mentally hurt, as their skin would be swollen and painful. The amusement parks do all this just for the sake