Animals Used For Entertainment Encourages Abuse
Animals Used For Entertainment Encourages Abuse
Animals Used For Entertainment Encourages Abuse
Olivia Bowman
Mrs. Frederick
Expository Writing 3
12 December 2016
Animals have always been used to entertain people. Wild or domesticated, they are found
in circuses, zoos, movies and everything in between. Entertainment animals are classified as ones
that perform or are put on public display (Evans). Their lives are used to bring joy to adults and
children all over the world, but at the price of their own. Using animals for entertainment
encourages abuse of them for the sake of performances, they are forced to live in abnormal
Exploiting these animals means the only positive thing that people notice is the amazing
things they can do. Animals in entertainment bring in money to many companies. Bullfights are
supported for many reasons. It has been a tradition in Spain since the fifth century (Williams).
Others who support it believe that bullfighting is an art form and it is not about the killing
technique (Duara). Zoos, unlike circuses and bullfights, tend to be better for the animals that are
used in entertainment. After the animals spend so much time in captivity they cannot be returned
to the wild (Bromwich). Something has to be done with these animals, and that is where zoos
typically come into play. If these animals were released back into their natural environments,
they probably would not make it. The animals would have to do things like evade predators and
hunt, which require skills that they never learned in captivity. Some exotic animals can even live
a longer life in captivity then they would have lived in the wild. Some species could become
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extinct if captivity did not preserve them. Keeping them in captivity means many animals receive
the proper care they deserve, and live out longer and healthier lives (Evans).
Animals in entertainment are harmed in order to have good performances. They have to
be trained somehow and those methods can become harmful (Evans). These animals are beaten
and killed to provide amazing actions that stun audiences. Circuses, horseraces, and bullfights
are among the worst reasons for the most gruesome treatment. People love to watch the animals
spin, jump through hoops, and do amazing things that no one would expect of them, all because
of circuses. However, training animals to perform at this caliber almost always involves abuse.
Bullhooks, clubs, whips, chains, as well as food and water deprivation are used in order for
trainers to keep control of the animals. Over the years, eleven Ringling Bros. elephants died due
to the abusive things that had happened to them, including when they had performed badly
(Merritt). Circus animals are punished when they do not obey, and forced to go out on stage even
if they are ill (Mettler). Bullfights and horse races also force animals into performing. Horses
begin training for these races long before their skeletons are even developed and strong enough
to handle the hard race tracks. This causes injuries that can be hard to identify, and the horses
continue racing. Some owners decide to give drugs to their horses in order to make them run
even with the problems they have, which causes more injuries that are harder to fix
(Preface). Bullfights are a different story because, unlike circuses and horse races, the abuse
is put out for everyone to see. Bullfighters provoke the bulls in order to get the bulls to chase
them. Matadors and rejoneadors lance the bulls repeatedly to make them weak, as the crowd
goes wild. They do not stop until the bull gives in and surrenders to the bullfighter, then the bull
is killed (Duara). The Humane Society International approximates that over 250,000 bulls are
killed every single year due to bullfights (Williams). However, any animals in circuses, horse
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races, bullfights, or other venues, that are not killed by entertainment, spend the rest of their days
in situations that are not much better. It is true that some animals get lucky and end up in special
sanctuaries, but usually, that is not the case (Merritt). Most of these animals are sold to hunting
ranches, zoos, auctioned off to animal collectors, or are killed. Those that are kept in captivity
cannot return to the wild. There would be the chance of disease and it could be hard for some to
hunt due to injuries (Bromwich). Horses that no longer race, end up at slaughterhouses and their
meat is then exported (Preface). It is easy to see what all these animals are forced to deal
with, and it is all for the performance and entertaining humans, not the animals.
For years, animals have been kept in captivity and have been living in abnormal
conditions. These animals are kept in cages, separated from the environment they were created to
live in. This causes the animal to be lonely and bored. They are also unable to reproduce
normally or naturally (Donaldson and Kymlicka). Circus housing is not all that great either, they
are forced to live in claustrophobic, filthy areas causing them to have minimal space and room to
stretch out. There is not a lot of veterinary care for when these animals get ill which causes
death. The animals are even exposed to high temperatures, kept in chains, and have no choice but
to stand in their own waste (Merritt). Babies are separated from their mothers, other are beaten
for doing activities that they are naturally made to do (Mettler). Circus animals have teeth and
claws removed so that they will not harm the humans that work with them. In nature, animals
and people do not have to share space. How is that remotely normal to these beautiful and
amazing animals (Bromwich)? When these animals are born in captivity, it would cause a lot of
issues if they were to return to the wild (Milian). They might not be able to take care of
themselves. These animals are fed by humans, interact with humans, and they do not know about
other creatures since they are kept away from animals that they would naturally encounter
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(Martin). The animals living conditions are more about what humans think about, not how the
animals live (Donaldson and Kymlicka). These poor, helpless creatures should have the right to
live in the wild, away from people, and not forced to do things that are unnatural to them
(Evans).
Animals are disrespected for many reasons. At a zoo in London, chimpanzees were
introduced to tea. Instead of making a mess, like expected, they did the same thing a human
would do. They were then retrained to make a mess so people would laugh and make them feel
like humans are the superior civilization. Doing this caused animals to be degraded in the minds
of many people (Donaldson and Kymlicka). Bullfights also cause animals to be disrespected.
They are killed in front of a live audience and people have fun at the cost of another living thing
(Williams). Children are also taught that animals do not have rights to freedom, to privacy, or to
live their own lives, lessons that often lead to disrespectful thoughts. Zoos do not teach about
animal behaviors or their natural habitats. They show that humans are superior to everything.
Society eats and exploits animals. Zoo cages and enclosures show children that there is a clear
divide between animals and man, so they grow up thinking animals belong behind glass. This
again shows how they have no rights (Donaldson and Kymlicka). Thankfully, many things are
being done to help prevent disrespect and abuse to animals in entertainment. Many countries
have full or partial bans against circuses (Botkin-Kowacki). America has few such bans to
circuses. However, many U.S. cities have banned the use of bullhooks and other things on
animals (Mettler). Many lawmakers are trying to encourage circuses to no longer use animals at
all, a solution that would resolve many of the conflicts expressed here (Merritt).
It is easy to see how abuse is encouraged through the harm shown to these animals. They
are abused, the environments are horrible and that they have no choice but to live in them, and no
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one understands or respects these amazing animals. Even though some things are being done, it
is not enough. More needs to be done to stop this abuse. No more animals should die or be
Works Cited
Botkin-Kowacki, Eva. Dublin Bans Animal Acts from Circuses. Part of a Broader Shift?
Bromwich, Jonah. 33 Circus Lions to be Flown to African Paradise. New York Times, 29
Donaldson, Sue, and Will Kymlicka. What Zoos, Circuses Really Teach Children. Globe and
Duara, Nigel. The Bullfight As an Art Form. Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2016, A.1. SIRS Issue
Researcher, sks.surs.com.
Evans, Kim Masters. Entertainment Animals. Animal Rights, edited by Gale. 2010. Information
Martin, Hugo. SeaWorld Orcas Are Safer in Enclosures, Park Says. Los Angeles Times, 03 Jan.
Merritt, Marianne R. Circus Animals Are Abused. The Rights of Animals, edited by Auriana
ic.galegroup.com
Mettler, Katie. After 145 Years, Ringling Bros. Circus Elephants Perform... . Washington Post-
Milian, Jorge. Jungle Jack Hanna: Zoos are Vital, Not Torture, for Animals. Palm Beach Post,
Preface to Should it Be Allowed for Animals to Be Used for Entertainment? The Rights of
Williams, Weston. Largest-Ever Anti-Bull-Fighting Rally Fills the Streets of Madrid. Christian