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| ANIMALS IN ENTERTAINMENT
1.
What is RMAD’s Animals in Entertainment Program? RMAD’s Animals in Entertainment Program maintains a presence at animal circus performances. The program leads and supports efforts to raise awareness about the use of animals in entertainment. For instance, in 1999, the Animals in Entertainment Program successfully led the effort to outlaw the exhibition of native wildlife in Estes Park, Colorado, effectively quashing plans to build a Plexiglas zoo at the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. The program also responds to public inquiries about the use of animals in entertainment. 2.
What do I do if I witness abuse or neglect? 3.
What is wrong with a zoo or aquarium when the animals are well taken
care of? Most zoos operate at a loss and must find ways to cut costs or add gimmicks that will attract more and more visitors. Zoo administrators feed on the public’s desire to see young animals. These babies are taken from the wild or traded back and forth among zoos. To make room for these new additions, old, surplus and less popular animals are sold to laboratories, canned hunting ranches (where hunters pay to kill confined animals), roadside zoos and circuses. Countless surplus animals are simply “warehoused” behind the scenes, and others may be killed for their flesh and/or skin. Most aquariums consider it a success if only 40 percent of the animals transported to their facility live. Loss of life is a given and is tacitly accepted. Zoos and aquariums want public-friendly environments. This means the animals’ comfort is oftentimes compromised. They are given very little, if any, privacy and are often put behind bars or Plexiglas enclosures much too small for their size and needs. They are often relegated to a small patch of dirt or to a cement floor for the rest of their lives. In contrast, some animals’ territory in the wild extends for miles into the forests, jungles and depths of the ocean. RMAD supports nonprofit sanctuaries that rescue and care for exotic animals but don’t sell, breed or exhibit them. An example of miserable neglect of animals in a zoo environment is provided by the Denver Post, which reported that in October 2001 one Asiatic black bear (Moktan) killed another (Sherpa) after years of fighting. The zoo failed to separate the two even after their fighting had escalated to what staff called a “vicious” level. Zoo records show the two bears fought at least 36 times in the 10 months preceding the fatal attack. For more information on the trade in exotic and endangered species, see Animal Underworld (Green 1999). 4.
Why shouldn’t I go to a circus? As infants, animals in circuses may be ripped away from their mothers during a painful separation process that sometimes actually involves ropes or chains. Often injured and scarred from the process, the babies are forced to endure the painful training process that often involves food and water deprivation and may involve continual beatings with whips, bullhooks, electric prods and even baseball bats. The cages in which the animals are confined are often so small (many measuring just 4 to 5 feet wide by 8 to 10 feet long) that it is difficult for the animals held captive in them to simply turn around. The animals defecate, urinate, eat, drink and sleep in the same small area. Such conditions can be found even in the largest circuses. Animals not confined to cages are often tethered up to 90 percent of the time. Most circuses routinely chain their elephants, and ungulates such as camels, zebras and horses are tethered or stalled. Apart from the limited time that they are in the ring or on stage—sometimes as little as a few minutes a day—performing animals live a life of extreme confinement. Animals can suffer terribly from constant travel. They may be kept in unheated, poorly ventilated vehicles, trailers and boxcars, typically living in their own urine and feces. Food and water may be withheld for traveling or performing convenience. Circuses’ grueling travel schedules keep them on the road as many as 48 to 50 weeks of the year. The pressures of extreme confinement and abuse lead to the development of abnormal behavior patterns. Hyperaggression, self-mutilation and stereotypic movements such as head bobbing, swaying, bar licking and pacing are relatively common in performing animals. These are signs of an unhealthy, unnatural physical and social environment. Claims by the circus industry that it makes a legitimate contribution to conservation through the captive breeding of endangered species are based on false logic. Many animal species popular in circuses, such as tigers, are already in a surplus situation in captivity, so breeding is unnecessary. The breeding of Asian elephants, the cornerstone of Ringling Bros.’ “conservation” program, is already well-established in Asia, where it belongs. There is no need to conduct captive breeding programs in North America. Furthermore, human encroachments into elephant territory and habitat degradation are the real roadblocks to survival of the Asian elephant. Circuses do nothing to address these problems. Even if circus elephants were available for placement back into the wild, they couldn’t be released because the existing natural areas for Asian elephants are already at capacity. 5.
Why shouldn’t I attend a rodeo? When bulls and broncos buck and bolt, they do so out of pain and discomfort. Electric prods, sharp sticks, caustic ointments and other devices are used to irritate and enrage animals used in rodeos. The flank or “bucking” strap used to make horses and bulls buck is tightly cinched around their abdomens where there is no rib cage protection. Tightened near the large and small intestines as well as other vital organs, the belt pinches the groin and genitals. The pain causes the animals to buck, which is the response rodeo operators want so they can put on a “good show” for the crowds. They also use electric prods to upset the animals and cause them to bolt from the stall. Many animals become injured with broken bones, torn tendons and punctured lungs. During calf roping, the calves have their necks jerked and bodies slammed, often causing neck and spinal cord injuries before they are sent to slaughter. Many times calves are so badly bruised that even the slaughterhouses cannot use their flesh. Rodeo association rules
are not effective in preventing injuries and are not strictly enforced.
Furthermore, penalties are not severe enough to deter abusive treatment.
If a calf is injured during the contest, the only penalty is that
the roper will not be allowed to rope another calf in that event
on that day. If the roper drags the calf, he or she might be disqualified.
There are no rules protecting animals during practice and there
are no objective observers or examinations required to determine
if an animal is injured in an event. |
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