Are we contributing to cruelty?

Its the time of the day when your children are bored and there's nothing to do so you

decide to take them to the nearby circus going on in town. Well before you go let me save you

some time and gas, do you understand what goes on behind the scenes of this freak animal show?

Dont feel bad if your unaware of the inhumane practices on these innocent beautiful animals,

many people dont. I'm here to inform you what these animals go through on a daily basis. The

wild animals grow up in captivity where they do not belong, they are raised in an unnatural,

stressful environment. Do you ever wonder how they get these elephants to stand on there two

back feet, they use whips, electric pods, billhooks. They even use food deprivation to get the

animal to perform this trick . In order to get the animal to these shows they are in a cage box

car for a variable amount of hours in extreme temperatures, there has been reports of animals

dying in these poor ventilated cages. These animals suffer from psychological disorders because

of the cruelty they endure as long as they have been held captive. Many people can argue and say

these animals are being fed and they dont have to survive the wilderness, yet they dont realize

how being in these type of environment in slowly, painfully killing them. We allow our children

to believe there is nothing but a cool act going on, we are blind to what we are putting these

animals through buy buying a ticket.

Animals in the wild are endangered by human predators and shrinking habitats, and live

short, dangerous lives. Circus animals receive food, shelter and veterinary care. The average life

expectancy of a tiger in captivity is 26 years compared to 15 in the wild. Douglas McPherson

blogged in The Huffington Post. The average circus travels for 48 weeks out of the year, the

animals are traveling in very tiny cages and many times the animal stay in the cage for more than

24 hours at a times. This amount of time in a cage is unstable for these wild animals, Elephants
are kept in leg shackles that prevent them from taking more than one step in any direction.

Elephants are known to travel as far as 25 miles a day and are known to be active for 18 hours a

day, how can these elephants express their natural behavior if they are locked away in a cage

where they can barely move. Many studies have shown that because of these conditions many

animals die but many live because they are fed and watched over enough just to make sure they

are alive and do not care how their mental or physical state is. Many of these circus trainers do

not care about their wellbeing.

It is very common for these animals to develop stress related illnesses, depression,

anxiety, and extreme frustration when they are deprived of companionship. One Green Planet

states. People tend to forget that animals are actually very loving creatures and they need

companionship. In these circuses they are treated more like an object then a creature that needs

just as much love as us humans do. These conditions cause the circus animals to have long term

disabilities. Circuses have many different types of species they also have primates. Baboon

Lagoon, Dr. Robert Sadoski, a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research in

Kenya, said, [T]raining most baboons to do tricks of the sort displayed is not trivial it is

highly likely that it required considerable amounts of punishment and intimidation. To argue

against the idea that these animals are treated fairly and yes they may have food once in a while

but what about the idea that they are deprived sometimes to get the animal to perform this stunt.

People argue and say they should be a source of entertainment because it provides them with a

home and they are also provided with food. This also protects them against the wild and against

many predators. The only argument I find is that these animals are going to be a source of

entertainment for us, which its not entertaining after you are informed about how mistreated

these animals are which I agree can change your perspective on the whole situation. These
animals are not having fun doing these tricks, they are not entertained and many would rather be

in their natural habitat with their families and not be isolated.

There is an argument that animals should stay in the circus because they teach children

about them, which I disagree due to the fact that they are not performing things they naturally do.

Animals are not meant to stay locked up and punished for performing wrong. These animals are

natural born in the wilderness having the extinct to protect themselves from predators and they

are a part of the food chain for a reason. Yes maybe being in the circus does protect them from

predators but we are also harming them so where does the balance come in. There are many laws

against conditions in circuses but yet many circuses dont follow them. There are videos of

undercover people who have went to circuses and checked the conditions and have reported them

to be terrible. There are reports of so much animal cruelty in these shows. There are states that

have banned circuses but I believe we should ban them all.

Whoa! Theres a tiger going through these rings of fire! This awe of wonder goes through

your body. Youre not really questioning how this exotic animal is performing such an act, your

just excited to be able to see it. When I was growing up, I absolutely loved circuses, when my

mom used to tell me we were going, I would get all giddy and thats usually a common feeling

for children who are going. I mean who doesnt want to see animals do things that youve never

heard of. One day I was able to see a show and I noticed many of the animals were shaking, I

questioned the whole entire thing. I started to notice the animals resembled much like an abused

child, when a hand would raise up theyd flinch and there was terror and sadness it there eyes. In

todays society it breaks our heart when we see on the news abused children and we are so quick

to persecute whoever was the suspect. Is there a difference between pains? What I mean when

you get kicked does it hurt less then when an animal gets kicked? Are they able to endure more
pain then a human being? Well I believe that there is no difference so why do we allow these

animals to suffer in these shows. They feel pain just like us, so why do we make a show out of it?