Using Animals for Gaming and Entertainment

Are All Beings Really Created Equal Everyone has been to a circus, zoo, or some kind of animal show and enjoyed it. But what those people didn"t realize is just how much those beings are suffering. Animals are being tortured, forced to please the people, and have lost their individual rights as living animals. Using animals for the entertainment or gaming for the public people should be illegal because it is cruel and causes animals to suffer. Animals in the zoo lead boring, trapped lives that cause them to suffer mentally, emotionally, and physically. "most animals in zoos in North America are still consigned to lead miserable lives in undersized, impoverished enclosures, both old and new, that fail to meet their biological and behavioral needs" (Ojeda 169). Importantly incorrect messages may distort the learning of communities by seeing and observing the animals in captivity. Therefore this shows that although zoos claim to be there to save the animals, that in reality the animals are not getting to meet their needs for a healthy lifestyle, and because of it are suffering. People may believe the zoos are conserving the endangered animals; but in reality now only sixteen species are living self-sustaining populations in the wild as the effects of zoos and captive breeding. With the guess of about 10,000 zoos worldwide, only a small percentage allocate the resources needed to be part of captive propagation initiatives, and even less give any real support in the protection of wildlife and their natural habitat. Zoos are just one kind of entertainment for humans, another problem are the circus"s. Animals that train and perform in the circus are abused and suffer terribly under horrible conditions. "They are forced to live in dirty, crowded quarters; are not provided with consistent veterinary care (many circuses don"t travel with veterinarians); and are trained and kept under control through the use of such devices as bullhooks (sticks with sharpened hooks at one end), clubs, whips, chains, electric "hotshot" prods, food and water deprivation, and other forms of what is unemotionally labeled "negative reinforcement" (Ojeda 161). The elephants may have it the worse, being chained for more than twenty-three hours of the day. In one case a female elephant named Nicole was beaten to the extremes after a show that she didn"t perform perfectly in. Trainers Randy and Adam struck her repeatedly with bullhooks in the head, trunk, feet, lumbar, hindquarters, and right hand side until the bullhook actually broke. Adam struck Nicole with the metal hook in the lumbar area and penetrated the skin, causing major blood flow. Besides putting some powder on the wound to slow the bleeding, no other veterinary care was given. This is only some of the terrible cruelties that happen behind the curtain in circuses. This is only good for proving that these animals have no rights and are suffering while being used for the public"s entertainment. People may say that circuses such as the Ringling Bros. are dedicated to working towards their Asian elephant"s survival as a species, but if this were entirely true, why would they not be focused on that, instead of training them for big tent shows? Also, species survival should be left to the trained professionals who studied endangered animals, and not to performers and trainers who beat them for a good show and some money. Animals like elephants suffer a lot in the circus for the public"s entertainment, but there are other animals that suffer due to gambling and gaming. Greyhounds and horses are suffering in the animal races for the peoples want to gamble. "On a good day we can have 100 people on the stands, and they are mostly smokers who come out from the casino floor," said "Izzy" Havenick, whose family has owned the track since 1953" (Sun 1). "The animal rights groups say the races and the training are cruel and say some dogs that were poor racers have been euthanized" (Sun 2). Horse races are expensive, and dangerous for the horses. If the track is not big enough they could run into each other or trip and become injured. These facts just prove that the dogs are racing in unhealthy environments for unnecessary reasons. The horses experience rough conditions and risky settings. Some people may say the animals are just doing what they were born loving to do. The animals may have it in their blood, but it is not safe or sanitary for the dogs and horses to be running every day in smoke filled environments while being bet on by gamblers. If the dogs race poorly then they are at the risk of being treated very bad. Because of all these facts we can conclude one clear thing. The use of animals for gaming and entertainment should become illegal because it causes animals to suffer and be tortured. The animals in zoos, circuses, and featured in races are treated cruelly for no good reason beside public entertainment which is irrelevant. Take a stand, everyone can help; do not go to the next circus in your town. Spread the word about the poorly treated zoo animals, and most importantly just know that humans made it this way, so humans can change it back.