Ringling Bros agrees to stop using elephants
HERE IS WHAT SOMEONE WROTE IN THEIR BLOG
There aren’t too many times I’m going to praise the circus, but this is one of them. Ringling Bros. has announced that it will phase out its use of elephants in its shows, and retire them all by 2018. That’s definitely something to cheer about — elephants shouldn’t be wearing headbands and balancing on small tables for the amusement of humans.
There has been a long documented history of animals being abused to become entertainment for bored parents and their over-indulged children and it’s time it came to a stop. It’s awesome that Ringling Bros. is recognizing this and willing to stop parading elephants around for our bizarre amusement.
But there are some issues with this good intention. I agree with PETA, which said the elephants should be retired immediately, not in two years. But I’m also more disturbed by the company’s proclamation that it will continue to use other animals, such as tigers, lions, horses, dogs and camels, in its shows.
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How do you feel about circuses, zoos or dolphins that are captured for our entertainment? Do you feel like they are just animals? Or do you feel like they have souls and their quality of life should matter?
I personally hate seeing elephants in captivity. They only behave because a certain amount of abuse is delivered by the hooks. They have no freedom.
Animals at the zoo don’t have much freedom either. A small area for animlas to run back & forth may seem like enough to the many people gazing, but research shows most are depressed by the lack of space. Some would argue that they have a good life because they are fed every day. To me, that’s like saying a kidnapped woman trapped in a man’s basement has a good life. It seems it would be better for animals to run free and risk death by nature than be trapped and depressed for many, many years. If i was chained to a pole and got a small amount of affection, I’d rather die.
The thing I HATE the most are the dolphins that are captured and separated from their families, so that we can have them drag us around. They are highly evolved animals that have very strong emotions. If you think they have a good life in captivity, please rent BLACKFISH on Netflix.
These are my thoughts. If you think I’m overreacting, please share.