Should Animals Be Used And Mistreated For Human Entertainment?

Henry Beston, a naturalist, once wrote that animals “are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.” Animal activists from around the world have been trying to end animal cruelty in the circus, SeaWorld, and dog shows for years. While others argue that this is what animals were bred to do, entertain. Animals should not be used and mistreated for human entertainment. Dog shows, circuses and SeaWorld have been mistreating and exploiting defenseless animals for as long as they have been around.
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a famous dog show that parades around 3,000 dogs around New York’s Madison Square Garden. In a way the dogs
Instead they are reduced to living in cages, their owners fearing their fur gets dirty, or being denied to right to play with other dogs since they spend most of their life getting ready to be paraded around and judged. The owners that put their dogs through this show want the perfect dog. So to get the perfect dog they arrange canine incest, forcing mothers to breed with their sons and fathers to breed with their daughters. This breeding can cause health problems in the puppies such as epilepsy, hypothyroidism and elbow dysplasia. The dogs are judged by their looks, which can cause the breeders to bred in certain traits for certain breeds. For example, this causes dachshunds to have long spines and short legs which can cause disc disease. Disc disease is when the discs in the back press into the spinal cord causing damage and severe pain for the dog. It can lead to serious damage to the spine and paralysis. Another example of health issues is with Cavalier King Charles spaniels, who suffer from syringomyelia. Syringomyelia is when the brain is too big for the head. Since the spaniels are bred to have unnaturally flattened skulls,
The circus is known for having animals that do unique and jaw-dropping performances, but these tricks are actually demeaning and unnatural for these animals. In recent years more and more people have started to agree that animals should not be forced to perform these unusual tricks and acts. A Gallup poll in 2015 stated that approximately 62% of Americans believe that animals deserve protection. The organization, Last Chance for Animals, recorded footage in 2002 showing how one circus in Oklahoma trained their animals. In the video it showed the elephants being trained with bullhooks, blowtorches, and electric pods. At one point in the video, you could hear one of the trainers yelling, “Make em’ scream!” This inside footage made many people question the circus and how they were treating their animal performers. Many of these animals are taken from their homes in the wild, or are either born into captivity never truly knowing freedom. These animals live a mistreated life. A life full of isolation, mistreatment, and boredom. Since they live these unusual lives, it causes them to have abnormal behavior. These behaviors include pulling out their own fur, bar biting and ceaseless swaying. These marvelous animals should not be degraded or used for our own