Performing animals in circuses...

[csdax]

I know that this forum is not for spamming or promoting issues, etc, but this is an issue that I would like to think affects many parents and children. I'm not intending to start a crusade, but I would ask that parents think about these issues before taking their children to a circus that uses performing animals.

I'm part of a group that is attempting to encourage cities to ban traveling circuses that use performing animals. The reasons I want to see and end to the use of animals in circuses are:
- The animals are beaten (circuses, naturally, deny this)
- Transporting animals is very stressful for them
- Travelling circuses cannot possibly provide appropriate accommodations, exercise, etc., for wild animals
- While I'm not ready to say that animals should have 'rights', as such (I'm not saying we should let them vote or anything), I do think that we should avoid treating them like crap

If you agree that animals should not be used in circuses, please sign this petition. It's addressed to the mayors of the cities in Canada where the Shriner's circus will be performing this summer, but the more cities we can encourage to ban these acts, the greater the likelihood they will be banned in other places. If you can share the petition with your friends, too, that would be wonderful!

If you don't feel strongly enough about this to sign the petition, please simply think about this issue, before making a decision of whether or not to buy tickets to a circus that uses animals. Consider supporting a form of entertainment that does not use animals, such as Cirque du Soleil.

Thanks for reading. I apologize if this is a little off topic in a parenting forum, but parents are the ones who make the choices about these issues, and we're raising the kids that will make the decisions in the future. This issue is very important to me, and I'd like to see our children make decisions that consider more than just 'entertainment value'.

 

[singledad]

Oh yes!

Yes. yes. yes.

It breaks my heart to think of those magnificent animals having to live their lives in cages, and as you say - being beating, fed the wrong diet, not getting exercise etc. Controlling predators with whips, and elephant with sharp hooks through their ears - the most sensitive part of an elephant's body! Its just so very wrong... Wild animals are not performers and they aren't pets.

Petition signed, and sent to all my friends

Edited to add - I don't think it is too off topic for a parenting forum. I believe that it is important for us as parents to teach respect for nature and for animals. After all- they're the ones who are going to inherit the responsibility of looking after it, and surely we want them to do a better job than we are doing, or our parents did? (Frankly, we're doing a lot better than our parents, but we are still failing miserably ) Taking our kids to a circus to laugh at animals being abused, is teaching them that animals exist for our amusement, and that abusing them is ok. Think about it...

 

[Jeremy+3]

In GB the use of wild animals within the circus has been banned, it is still legal to use domesticated animals (under very specific guidelines and decoys are often used within the circus to ensure treatment is good), but currently there are less than 100 domesticated being used in the circus.

 

[Mom2all]

I signed. I can proudly say I've never bought a ticket to one!

 

[NancyM]

Signed it also and I too have never bought a ticket to a circus or have ever taken my son to one for this exact reason.

 

[bssage]

First let me say my opinion is if your a member in good standing (and you are) and have a cause you would like to draw attention to. I dont consider that spamming. And I think on some level we like the little looks into one another lives. So rock on.

While I agree with the circus issues. In the middle of the states there are really no means for kids to see the "real deal" in real life. So I am guilty of having attended a couple with the kids. Having said that I do agree with your cause and will no longer do that.

Is this opinion the same for shows that just travel with animals for show? We are in kinda secluded part of the country and dont really have access to a zoo close by. We occasionally have these shows at the mall. The eagle show they have each year when I have attended is usually a DNR (Department of Natural Resources) employee showing a eagle who is recovering or otherwise disabled. But I am not sure the history of the other shows Bears cats and such. Is there some kind of site that has ratings or approvials for the different producers?? Is there a acceptable traveling show at all??

 

[singledad]

Is this opinion the same for shows that just travel with animals for show? We are in kinda secluded part of the country and dont really have access to a zoo close by. We occasionally have these shows at the mall. The eagle show they have each year when I have attended is usually a DNR (Department of Natural Resources) employee showing a eagle who is recovering or otherwise disabled. But I am not sure the history of the other shows Bears cats and such. Is there some kind of site that has ratings or approvials for the different producers?? Is there a acceptable traveling show at all??

IMO it would depend very much on the type of animal, the people who are traveling with them, how they are kept and how they came to be in captivity.

Any predator or primate in a cage is a complete no-no. They need space to move and exercise. Social animals should not be kept alone. That goes even for birds - they need the companionship of others of their kind just as much as you need the companionship of other humans. Things like tortoises that are genetically programmed to roam over a large range, should also not be confined - preventing an animal so severely from following its instincts is just cruel.

Then there are other considerations, like can they handle the climate? (I hate that they have polar-bears in my local zoo - how do the poor things handle the heat?). Are they being fed the right diet? Were they captured from the wild just to entertain, or are they orphaned/injured animals that cannot survive in the wild (yet)? Also consider what effect the bussle and noise of a mall would have on an animal whose senses are several orders of magnitude more sensitive than ours, or the stress the constant change would cause an animal that should be roaming a familiar territory...

I don't think I would have a problem with properly qualified people using a eagle that is disabled or being rehabilitated to educate people about the species. If it is unable to fly, it wouldn't be much happier in a large enclosure than in a decent-sized cage. It has to be in captivity, at least for a period, so they may as well use if for educational purposes. Cats and bears, however, need space to move, even if they are injured. Ethical rehab-centers move these animals to large enclosures as soon as they are able to move around.

The only real way to tell if there is a problem, is to look at the animals themselves. If it is pacing, it is frustrated. If an animal seems thin, scruffy (messy, dull or uneven fur), or has bad teeth, it is either not eating due to emotional distress, or it is being fed the wrong diet. If a bird is calling incessantly, it is lonely. There's more, but I think you get the picture of the kind of things one should watch out for.

I don't know about websites with ratings. The best I can recommend is to do your homework about what the specific species need, and then to determine whether or not it is being provided to them...

Oh, and thanks for reminding me again how lucky I am to live 4 hours from one of the world's most famous game reserves

 

[csdax]

Thanks so much, to everyone who has signed.

bssage, I know that Zoocheck has campaigns specifically against some of the worst offenders, but they don't have a comprehensive list, by any means. I wish they did. However, if you know the name of a zoo or exhibit that you're considering going to, you could Google them. That often brings up reports of animal welfare groups who have issues with specific places.

I can definitely understand your problem about not being able to see the "real deal". While some people would like to see no wild animals in captivity, I personally feel that the ability to see animals live is a valuable way to generate enthusiasm for beautiful creatures. But I think if the animal is up close in a cage rather than a 'habitat', then that's too high of a price to pay. There's one place that I do take my kids to, and that's a safari-style place, where the animals have plenty of space to roam. I still feel uncomfortable about some aspects of it, but it's the best place to expose my children to 'wild' animals.

Generally, I would say that travelling shows would find it almost impossible to provide a suitable life for any animal. However, I have seen some excellent Birds of Prey demonstrations where birds are transported there. I think there's a difference between a sanctuary which takes animals out to educate people once or twice a month, and a travelling zoo where the animals live on the road.

If you do find yourself at a place where you feel that the animals are not being treated decently, you can use it as a teachable moment for your kids. You can also write a letter to your local paper or write a review on-line. The point is that you're thinking about it, trying to do the right thing, and not blindly treating animals as though they're there purely for the entertainment of humans.

Singledad - great post. Thanks! I'm very lucky, too, in that I've been able to travel to some wonderful game reserves. Staying in Treetops in Aberdare National park is one of the most amazing memories of my life (though digging a Jeep out of a mud pit in the middle of the Massai Mara made me a little nervous because I knew there were lions pretty close!)

 

[singledad]

I'm very lucky, too, in that I've been able to travel to some wonderful game reserves. Staying in Treetops in Aberdare National park is one of the most amazing memories of my life (though digging a Jeep out of a mud pit in the middle of the Massai Mara made me a little nervous because I knew there were lions pretty close!)

LOL - I hear you! Got stuck in deep sand once in central kalahari.... that was the fastest I've ever attached a jerk strap to a vehicle Massai Mara is, unfortunately still on my "to do" list. And my DD needs to be a bit older before I can take her there

 

[IADad]

You know I used to ask what the big deal was, that surely animals used to perform are treated well, but having seen some on the move, I don't think there's the honor and amount of caring in the industry that there may have one-time been.

I can see how at one time, the circus was a rare glimpse into other worlds. We now have great zoos readily accessible, yes, even here in the middle states. I just don't think we need the entertainment of hauling animals around to make them perform for us.

I'm not a big petition signer, so sorry, I've chosen not to sign yours, but I also can't see a circumstance where I'd buy a ticket.

 

[singledad]

I think in the past, and maybe even now, many circusses had good intentions and believed that they treated the animals well, but in reality they had no idea what the animals really need. It was ignorance more than than anything else. These day, with all the information we now have at our fingertips, there are no more excuses for ignorance. Good intentions simply aren't enough anymore. (were they ever?)

I'm glad to hear you will be voting with your wallet. If everyone did that, there would be no need for petitions

 

[Incogneato]

I tried voting with my wallet once but I couldn't hold the pencil with it

 

[Xero]

Oh, I agree. Even places like the zoo and Sea World make me sad, honestly. Wild animals belong in the wild, period. That being said, we do not go to circuses (assuming they have animals) already so don't worry. I'd like to sign the petition, but I hate entering in personal information on the internet. Sorry about that.

 

[csdax]

For those who choose not to sign the petition - no problem . The important thing is that you're thinking about the issues, and passing on values that will help your children to make decisions about how animals should and shouldn't be treated. Thanks.

 

[IADad]

You know it made me think about Rodeo's too. My dad was old school and liked the rodeo. Once when I was like College aged, he invited me to go to the rodeo and I declined. I mean some of the events are fine, like barrel racing, but Bull Riding, Bronco Busting and calf roping really seem unnecessary for us to put animals through that for our amusement.

That being said, I regret not going with my dad, because we were never really that close and I think that was another attempt by him to do stuff with me that I rebuffed. I didn't even realize it until I had kids...and now he's gone.

 

[jack123]

It is totally unfair and cruel on animals to be treated so badly in circuses. We are teaching are children wrong things if we take them to the circus and show them that an animal can behave in a way that humans like by training them. It sends a wrong message. We have no rights on the lives of these animals. As it is we encroach the jungles and take their homes away and now this.