Animal Rights Research

8/6/2019 Animal Rights Research

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Type of animal rights violation

Animal abuse in circuses and zoos

What it is

It is the cruelty to animals in zoos and circuses by treating them cruelly and

unwarrantedly through the infliction of pain, suffering or harm upon them for purposesother than self-defense, instead for gain. of animals. Such treatment generally has a single

point program - to subject animals to unnecessary harm and pain. One major type of

animal cruelty is torture. Animal abuse can be classified into two separate categories. One

is an active form of animal abuse and the other is a passive form. Active form of abuse

involves cruelty to animals. It happens when an individual is purposely trying to cause

some harm to an animal, like hurting or beating it. Passive abuse includes lack of care or

negligence towards pets. This happens as a result of inaction. Generally, it has been

observed that such a situation arises when the pet owner is not aware of or does not

bother to take proper care of the pet's needs for food, shelter, medical attention etc.

How it is done

CIRCUSES

various prominent circuses do not practice what they preach and indulge in animal cruelty

on a routine basis.

severely exploit and abuse animals, use very brutal training methods to establish and

maintain the control necessary to make the circus animals perform their tricks.

use of electric shock devices, sticks with concealed screws or spikes and give the circusanimals severe beatings

Tight collars, whips, beatings and torture given to animals, with no institute or individual

looking after the training sessions of the circuses

behavior of the animals during the circus shows is not at all natural, in the sense that

tigers don't hop around and then lay down in unison, elephants don't walk trunk to tail and

female elephants don't mount each other. All this is possible only by extreme training,

which may translate into extreme torture.

Due to the inhumane treatments, it has been proved that circus animals are dying at a

higher rate than they are breeding.

Circus animals spend most of their lives being transported in cages on top of trucks. Some

circuses travel thousands of miles each year. Sometimes the animals are allowed to spend

some time in an exercise cage. The only other times they get to be outside of their cages is

to rehearse or perform.

Elephants who in nature love to roam around spend most of the day being chained by a

front and a hind leg, barely able to move. Like zoo elephants, circus elephants show a lot

of abnormal behaviors like rocking, swaying and nodding

Horses, who are very social animals, are separated and kept in tiny pens when they are

not performing or rehearsing.

dogs are usually kept in cages or tied up.

As a result of not having a lot of money, circus operations will frequently not give their


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animals enough water or food, clean their cages properly or give them adequate medical

care

elephants

often not provided with basic medical first aid, ie. not treated medically for wounds

inflicted during beatings and other natural causes. Circuses have known to keep a largeamount of topsoil ready to camouflage the wounds and blood on the elephants.

Tuberculosis is a major disease for them

Some suffered from lameness, arthritis and food abscesses.

do not have wide spaces to move around, leading to osteoporosis which causes common

elephant deaths.

Often deprives baby elephants of their mothers and their freedom

ZOOS

Animals taken from the wild, snatched out of their natural environment and placed in

enclosures, especially baby animals, as zoos like to display baby animals because the

public finds them cute and is drawn to displays with babies.

Zoos breed animals for animal experiments and to produce babies to attract more visitors

so they can increase their profits.

When they breed too many animals and create a surplus, zoos are known to kill their own

animals, Or worse, they sell them to hunting ranches.

supplied animals to the exotic meat industry.

supplied animals to circuses

Surplus animals are destroyed or sold. Most zoo collections are comprised of large charismatic species, such as giraffes,

elephants, tigers etc. These animals are 'crowd pullers', and are kept in captivity for the

benefit of zoos themselves.

animals are caged and may be deprived of their normal society, their families and mates.

They have little opportunity to run, soar in the sky, swing through the trees, or roam over

large distances.

usually have nothing to do, don't need to use their intelligence and skills to solve daily

problems of survival, don't have to look for food, shelter or mates, and they don't have to

be on alert to avoid predators. Nothing much changes in a zoo enclosure.

These abnormal behaviours has led to some animals becoming apathetic and showing

signs of mental disturbance. They may self-mutilate, eat their excrement

elephants

Are kept captive. Often abused, causing immeasurable suffering to them, even death

elephant trainers use electric shock devices eg. electric goads to train to perform circus

type tricks, long-term damage caused

Who is responsible for it

zoo keepers

circus trainers


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Why it occurs

for entertainment and recreation purposes for us

zoos and circuses want to make profits

Where it is most prevalent china

USA

What has been done about it

governments have come forward and banned or restricted the use of animals in circuses.

Organizations formed to prevent cruelty to animals:

People For Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) etc.

By who

Sweden, Costa Rica, Austria, Finland, India, and Singapore

What you can do about it

Animal abuse can be reduced to a great extent, if people stop treating animals as their

personal property. They end up abusing animals more because of their attitude that

animals are needed either as food or as companions or for entertainment.

Write polite letters to both the editors of the local and state papers. This gets the message

across to a large number of people at one time

Write letters to your local council asking that they consider joining the other statewide

councils in placing a ban on leasing land to circuses using animals/exotic animals. This is

an important tool in helping to raise the awareness of both the council and councillors asto the issues that surround the cruelty and suffering the animals endure.

If you see a circus that uses exotic animals please contact the animal welfare groups in

your area or email Circus Watch WA, RSPCA or Animal Liberation WA, NSW, SA, Vict

or QLD as soon as possible with all the relevant details.

Take a camera or video camera with you and take photos or footage of the animals and

their conditions. Remember to take note of the day, date, time and place, plus any other

details you think would help. Contact Circus Watch WA, the RSPCA, Animal Liberation

or Animals Australia with your information.

Collect a petition form and get it filled out. The more the message gets out to the public in

all manner of ways the more people think about the plight and suffering of these beautiful

creatures, the more they will boycott circuses that use animals

Always boycott any circus using animals. By paying, your money contributes to the

continued suffering so instead, support cruelty free human circuses like Circus OZ or

Cirque du Soliel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruelty_to_animals

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-cruelty-animal-abuse-facts-statistics.htmlhttp://elephant.elehost.com/News/Circus_News/circus_news.html
http://dir.yahoo.com/Science/Biology/Zoology/Animals__Insects__and_Pets/Organizations/Humane_and_Rescue_Societies/Society_for_the_Prevention_of_Cruelty_to_Animals__SPCA_/United_States/American_Society_for_the_Prevention_of_Cruelty_to_Animals__ASPCA_/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruelty_to_animalshttp://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-cruelty-animal-abuse-facts-statistics.htmlhttp://elephant.elehost.com/News/Circus_News/circus_news.htmlhttp://dir.yahoo.com/Science/Biology/Zoology/Animals__Insects__and_Pets/Organizations/Humane_and_Rescue_Societies/Society_for_the_Prevention_of_Cruelty_to_Animals__SPCA_/United_States/American_Society_for_the_Prevention_of_Cruelty_to_Animals__ASPCA_/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruelty_to_animalshttp://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-cruelty-animal-abuse-facts-statistics.htmlhttp://elephant.elehost.com/News/Circus_News/circus_news.html


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http://en.allexperts.com/q/Animal-Rights-2716/animal-cruelty-zoos.htm

http://www.animalliberation.org.au/zoos.php

http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/circuses.htm
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Animal-Rights-2716/animal-cruelty-zoos.htmhttp://www.animalliberation.org.au/zoos.phphttp://www.veganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/circuses.htmhttp://en.allexperts.com/q/Animal-Rights-2716/animal-cruelty-zoos.htmhttp://www.animalliberation.org.au/zoos.phphttp://www.veganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/circuses.htm

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Animal Rights Research