Preview

Animal Cruelty in Circuses Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
551 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Animal Cruelty in Circuses Essay Example
How many times have people witnessed or heard about animal cruelty? Circuses are one of the many places where animals are treated poorly. One of the many endangered species that are forced to 'join' the circus is the largest land mammal, the elephant. Wild animals, such as the elephant, are taken from their natural habitat to perform uncomfortable tricks for human entertainment. They suffer from the drastic changes in climate, the inappropriate shelters and transportation conditions, and the countless beatings. There needs to be a greater respect for animals, not dominance over animals.
The Roman Empire was a time period of proving man's superiority. Blatant cruelty was found in their circuses. In 70 amphitheaters, elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, crocodiles, giraffes, lions, tigers, bears, deer and more were butchered just for the fun of it. 8 thousand animals were killed on the first two days of the opening of the Coliseum in Rome itself. This was only a display of warriors' skills and courage. It was to prove their dominance over nature. These cruelties came to an end around the fifth century A.D (Preece & Chamberlain 9). It only ended because of the fall of the Roman Empire and the economic decline when ex

In September of 1999, the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus had been charged under the U.S. Animal Welfare Act for mistreating elephants. In 1998, inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found several elephants with wounds. They said the wounds were caused by abuse of an ankus, a large hook that is used to force animals to obey commands. Circus officials denied the allegations and claimed that the elephants suffered from infected hair follicles (Hosaka 1). Animal activists boycott and protest against the circus, however, they still can not drive away the public. According to a vice president with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus, Renee Storey, attendance at shows is growing (2). If crowds continue to go to the shows, the circus will

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Many wild animals across the world are removed from their natural habitats and forced into captivity. Many are subject to abuse all for entertainment and profit. Unfortunately, many people who say they “love animals” may actually be contributing to the suffering of these animals because they are unaware of the things going on behind the scenes. Whether it’s simply seeing animals at the zoo, watching the whale shows at SeaWorld, riding elephants, or swimming with dolphins; people see these as fun ways to interact with wild animals. In reality, these animals greatly suffer in captivity and thus should not be used for entertainment.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For hundreds of years, animals have been used for our entertainment. Although most people have been to the circus sometime in their lives, they do not think about what goes on behind the scenes. When you think of the circus; you think of having a good time, with plenty of excitement. You think of goofy clowns, acrobats and popcorn. You rarely think about what happens when the show is over. But for some the show never ends. Chimpanzees and other animals used for our entertainment are usually abused and mistreated.…

    • 923 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Animals used for entertainment is also another issue. Most people came to the zoo, circus at least once in their lifetime. Animals forced to do trick and entertain people. Do they look happy? Definity not. In the movie BlackFish, the killer whales has been separated and taken away when they were babies. They were forced to do things, if they resist, they will get hurt, or starving. Those killer whales were storage in the concrete box underwater. Live in those boxes extremely uncomfortable. Imagine people who live in prison for their whole life. Those people tend to show aggressive and violent behaviors. Killer whales are the same as well, which led to the attack of SeaWorld trainer Keltie Byrne.…

    • 119 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever attending a circus before? Have you seen the thrill in they eyes of innocent children that are surprised by the lights, hoops, fire and large animals? Nobody know what happens when the lights shut off and the crowd disappears. At the circus animals are showing off talents that wild animals would not have obtained in their habitats. Nancy Colier argues in the article that the circus is a talent show for the animals that exhibits animal cruelty and abuse. Colier is correct that the circus exhibits animal cruelty and abuse, but I do not agree that the solution she states would be enough to notice the problem with the circus.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin, these are places in which people meet and interact with each other. Yes, people can meet and interact with people pretty much anywhere but places like this especially circuses are a magical place in itself as brought up in Local Couple with Ties to Ringling Bros. Sad about the End by Leader-Telegram express that while in preparation for being a part of the circus many relationships had formed, just the same, when it was time for people to leave it was the same as losing a loved one (The Leader-Telegram, 2). Even though this is not about the animals and how they are treated it is important to understand what it means to be a part of the circus and what is lost when the circus is taken away. Alongside this, is the knowledge in which people gain while attending these events, mostly zoos. Many people will not leave the stated that they were born and raised in and this restricts them from being able to see these majestic creatures up front and personal. As stated by Green Garage they not only allow people of all ages to come and visit and inspect these animals but on top of that it allows research teams to study these animals at a safe distance and get info on them to better their health and teach us what we can do to their increase survival rates in the…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "The exhibiting of trained animals I abhor. What an amount of suffering and cruel punishment the poor creatures have to endure in order to give a few moments of pleasure to men devoid of all thought and feeling." - Albert Schweitzer, physician and philosopher."I find circuses deeply offensive. We are just beginning to recognize animals as important in their own right. Circuses throw us back to the Middle Ages." - Desmond Morris, zoologist and animal behaviorist.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Annotated Bibliography

    • 1753 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Clunies-Ross, T., Circus Can Survive Without Animals, Animals Today, Vol.3.3 Aug-Oct 1995. RSPCA UK, Leaflet. Animal Defense League, Canada, Letter to Ottawa Citizen, 8/94.…

    • 1753 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Seeing exotic animals behind cages or glass walls at the zoo, watching Shamu do flips for a fish at SeaWorld, and laughing as elephants perform tricks at the circus are all entertaining, but is our entertainment worth the suffering these animals endure behind the scenes? The answer is no. The billions of animals that are subjected to abuse outweigh any claimed benefits that can be made of these businesses. The debate of zoos and parks being ethical or unethical has two main arguments, these being the animal abuse involved and the supposed benefits.…

    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In addition, you can help provide captive elephants with the best possibly life. Boycott circuses, whose unethical treatment includes chaining elephants up by their feet and trunks, as well as beating them frequently. Encourage zoos to create environments similar to African elephants’ native habitat. They should be able to encompass elephant families and their travel patterns, and they should be located in a warm climate so that the elephants can spend all year outside.…

    • 1967 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jurassic Park

    • 298 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Some people believe the display of animals for human enjoyment is revolting because of establishments like Zoos and the infamous, Sea World. They look at these places and see the cold hard facts: animals are being torn away from their natural habitats, to be placed in artificial environments, where they often times get mistreated and taken advantage of. Protesters of such issues even go as far to compare this industry to the illegal sex trade, where people are kidnapped and forced to have sex against their will, for nothing in return. While this may seem over exaggerated, the argument…

    • 298 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Do Animals Captive?

    • 1515 Words
    • 7 Pages

    of zoos and circuses are to make money, therefore the animals are viewed and treated as…

    • 1515 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Circus trainers are abusing elephants! Have you ever thought, ‘there is no way a circus elephant can do all of those tricks without being abused’? These rangelers abuse not just elephants but other circus elephants, like tigers, and monkeys, and etc. There are so many ways that elephants are being abused. One way elephants are being abused is by using bullhooks and ropes.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other ways.” (Peta) The topic I chose to protest for is animal abuse. Not just any animal abuse but circus animal abuse. Animals are fun and to see them do things animals don't really do. The thing you don’t see is how these circus animals are treated just to do the things you do see. These animals go through a lot believe it or not. Animals get parted from their family. They have no free wild time. They spend most of their life in cages and chained up. “ 96% of a circus animal's life is spent in chains or cages.” (Do Something) Circuses all started in the 14th century in Rome. They used animals just to show them off but not to make them do something.…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I remember how once the circus came to town and I asked my mom if we could buy tickets. She proceeded to explain how she doesn't promote circuses since they abuse their animals. Animals aren't actors. They weren't bred to do confusing tricks under the threat of physical punishment. How would you feel if you were carted cramped and caged, moved from country to…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Animal Abuse Facts

    • 1860 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Many times animals in a circus are trained using physically abusive training methods and other practices of intimidation. Trainers rampantly use whips, chains and sharp objects to beat and poke the animals into submission. The animals are kept chained in unhygienic conditions for long periods of time and do not get medical aid when they are injured. Many countries such as India, Singapore, Sweden and Austria among others have come forward to ban or restrict use of animals and to create and promote animal free circuses. It will take some time to totally eradicate animal cruelty from circuses.…

    • 1860 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays