Animal Abuse in Circuses
I. Intro and thesis
Circuses have been a popular form of entertainment for individuals and families for generations. There is something for everyone between the exotic animal shows, acrobatic performances, juggling, clowns, music, and more. But hidden behind the lights and laughter circuses hold a dark secret. For years circuses have been abusing the animals in their care. Animals are physically abused in traditional circuses like the Ringling Brothers circus and are forced into captivity by modern circuses like SeaWorld. This paper will review the history of circuses before examining the treatment of animals in both the Ringling circus and SeaWorld, arguing these forms of entertainment should not be allowed to continue. …show more content…
In 2009 PETA put out an undercover video showing the physical abuse of animals, mainly elephants. For example in part of the film you see elephants being beaten with bull hooks (Peta, 2009). An animal law journal discusses an example of animal abuse by the Ringling Bros. “In another tragic instance, in July 2004, a two-year-old male lion named Clyde died after being contained for six hours in a Ringling Bros. Circus boxcar traveling from Arizona through the Mojave Desert to California. The temperatures in the cars were recorded at 109 degrees Fahrenheit, but Clyde and the other animals were not provided with water or adequate ventilation. “A trainer who complained that Clyde was looking ill was ignored by the conductor and Ringling Bros. employees.” Clyde died in Arizona as a result.” (Niedrich, …show more content…
SeaWorld
The history of SeaWorld began when it was originally started as Busch Gardens, which consisted of bird sanctuaries, gardens, rollercoasters, and shows. Then in 1964 the SeaWorld was created and was intended to be an underwater restaurant but quickly evolved into a marine park (SeaWorld, 2015). Many animal rights organizations have disagreed with SeaWorld’s treatment of their animals. However it was the shocking documentary Blackfish that made the world question SeaWorld. The film showed SeaWorld illegally taking Orcas out of the wild. The organization paid hunters to herd Orcas and separate the babies from their mothers. The animals are forced into new groups even though they cannot communicate with Orcas that are not from their pod. The whales are kept in small pools where they are trained to do tricks for up to five shows a day. The film shows that the whales often get depressed and will drown themselves; the whales develop unusually aggressive behavior in which they kill trainers even though in the wild they never attack people. The movie also showed that because the whales all come from different pods they fight among each other, which results in whales dying after a fight (Blackfish,
I. Intro and thesis
Circuses have been a popular form of entertainment for individuals and families for generations. There is something for everyone between the exotic animal shows, acrobatic performances, juggling, clowns, music, and more. But hidden behind the lights and laughter circuses hold a dark secret. For years circuses have been abusing the animals in their care. Animals are physically abused in traditional circuses like the Ringling Brothers circus and are forced into captivity by modern circuses like SeaWorld. This paper will review the history of circuses before examining the treatment of animals in both the Ringling circus and SeaWorld, arguing these forms of entertainment should not be allowed to continue. …show more content…
In 2009 PETA put out an undercover video showing the physical abuse of animals, mainly elephants. For example in part of the film you see elephants being beaten with bull hooks (Peta, 2009). An animal law journal discusses an example of animal abuse by the Ringling Bros. “In another tragic instance, in July 2004, a two-year-old male lion named Clyde died after being contained for six hours in a Ringling Bros. Circus boxcar traveling from Arizona through the Mojave Desert to California. The temperatures in the cars were recorded at 109 degrees Fahrenheit, but Clyde and the other animals were not provided with water or adequate ventilation. “A trainer who complained that Clyde was looking ill was ignored by the conductor and Ringling Bros. employees.” Clyde died in Arizona as a result.” (Niedrich, …show more content…
SeaWorld
The history of SeaWorld began when it was originally started as Busch Gardens, which consisted of bird sanctuaries, gardens, rollercoasters, and shows. Then in 1964 the SeaWorld was created and was intended to be an underwater restaurant but quickly evolved into a marine park (SeaWorld, 2015). Many animal rights organizations have disagreed with SeaWorld’s treatment of their animals. However it was the shocking documentary Blackfish that made the world question SeaWorld. The film showed SeaWorld illegally taking Orcas out of the wild. The organization paid hunters to herd Orcas and separate the babies from their mothers. The animals are forced into new groups even though they cannot communicate with Orcas that are not from their pod. The whales are kept in small pools where they are trained to do tricks for up to five shows a day. The film shows that the whales often get depressed and will drown themselves; the whales develop unusually aggressive behavior in which they kill trainers even though in the wild they never attack people. The movie also showed that because the whales all come from different pods they fight among each other, which results in whales dying after a fight (Blackfish,