Many of us saw the movie Water for Elephants that came out only a little over a year ago. If you did see this then you know how heart breaking and disturbing the animal cruelty scenes were, but if you didn't witness these atrocious sites I can promise you that it would make your stomach turn and you heart ache. We have all probably been subject to zoo visits with our families and many people enjoy seeing wild creatures and learning new things, but what if that picture was changed for you. Many circus and zoo goers don't have a clue about what's going on behind the scenes in these entertainment facilities. Circus's beat and torment their animals and force them to do ridiculous tricks and zoos keep animals in caged areas for their entire lives. That is until they are of no use. Then they're shipped off to be disposed of or slaughtered. Circus's are notorious for using bull hooks in elephants and chaining their animals up. But as if that wasn't horrible enough, the amount this happens is shocking. Before elephants are taken to perform their trainers and handlers hit them with the bull hooks for no apparent reason. The animals are kept in chains for hours. Not just a couple of hours wither, but anywhere from twenty-six to sixty hours at a time. Lions have died from heat stroke after being left in ridiculously small cages in extreme heat with no water. Some seemingly harmless, even romantic sources of entertainment contribute to this injustice. Horse drawn carriages may seem like a grand gesture or an enjoyable way to pass the time, but they are cruel on the animals themselves. Horses have dropped dead from exhaustion, heat stroke, and have been fatally injured by loud noises from the city and drivers who weren't paying enough attention.
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| Photo by: rscottjones |
There are a few steps you can take to help end these cruel acts. When circus's come to town, write to your town officials asking them to put a ban on animals being used for entertainment. According to an online PETA article many large cities have already taken this step. You can also contribute by not attending these places or events because they need customers money to continue on and without the money they would be forced to stop.
http://www.peta.org/issues/Animals-In-Entertainment/default2.aspx
Dear Ms. Taylor,
ReplyDeleteYour post was very interesting to me. I would have never thought to write about this subject. I am happy you chose it because obviously more people need to learn about the animal cruelty. I agree with your stance on how to prevent these issues from happening. If the actions are taken maybe the abuse toward the animals will stop. Thank you again for writing about this subject. Your blog was very interesting.