Why Animal Performance for Human Entertainment Should Be Banned

Refused animal performance is helping ourselves and them.

People today are attracted by the gossip, crafted news titles and fantasy movie effect. But, in the long period of history, people seem like always attracted by circus performances, in last century, the freak show was the most popular show, and now, it is prohibited because of violations of humanitarian and disabled rights. But animal shows still exist in circuses and zoos. Animal performance refers to the purpose of entertaining the audience through artificial training, and let the animals make actions and behaviors that are contrary to their natural nature. Violation of animal welfare and even animal cruelty can be seen throughout the animal training process. The animal trainer sometimes trains the animal in a 'punishment' manner, such as not providing food, whipping… forcing the animal to complete the action to pleasing humans.

The living environment of the animals was always hostile, and the lighting and noise of the performance venue are also one of the factors that endanger the health of the animals. Thus, animal performance should not be allowed, because most animal performance is different from the imprinting of the creature. at the same time, it is against humanity that every life is equal and unique. the behavior behind animal performances is extremely humanitarian, and to some extent, watching animal performances is hurting these animals. Be begin with, we need to figure out that almost all organizations that rely on animal performance for profit have abused. In the video, 'Black Elephant' produced by Chao.

It is shown that although training elephants has become a culture, Thai elephants are being abused because they cannot satisfy tourists. According to the documentary data, in order to train the elephants, the tamer used a traditional training method called 'Pajaan' to training the elephants. (Chao) 'Pajaan' means 'breaking and separating', so this quotation shows the trainer separated the elephants from family and the friends, and on the other hand, it is the separation of spirit and body. And for the little elephant do not follow the order, the tamer has another way to train them, which is a pointed stick called 'Bullhooks', is specially made for the purpose of taming, one end of the tool can pierce the elephant's skin, and it can also be used to hit an elephant, which can cause great pain. (Chao) this example demonstrates that almost all the trained elephants have been abused, and the animal trainer has passed the punishment over and over, letting them remember the pain, just to show them to the tourists.

Similarly, in the article 'Frequently Asked Questions About Keiko' find on the IMMP, the writer talked about the experience of a killer whale Keiko to prove that imprisoned animals have physical or mental issues. Keiko's tank was too warm, extremely small, and filled with tap water mixed with salt rather than real seawater. Keiko was extremely popular with the public, but his health deteriorated during his confinement in Mexico. (IMMP) this quote shows the majority of the performance animals that are domesticated in zoos or aquariums live in a small space. The messy environment affects their health all the time. The businessman will only brutality treat animals for their own benefit.

In summary, behind the animal show is a complete industrial chain, as long as there are audiences who are keen to watch animal performances, almost all organizations that rely on animal performance to gain income are treated animals cruelly.

In addition, let animals violate their own natural performances and also cause harm to humans. In the documentary 'Blackfish' directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director describes the killer whale Tilikum who killed three people in the past few years in the long-term tension, stress, and illness. In 1999, the Tilikum was chosen to take part in the artificial fertilization plan and it vented its anger on humans. In June, people have found a man who fulls of scars on the back of Tilikum. (Cowperthwaite) This shows that once an animal cannot stand people's treated, it may cause incalculable damage to humans. Killer whales will not actively attack humans. The only culprit of this case is not Tilikum, it is human beings.

Similarly, in article 'British tourist killed by elephant on trek in Thailand' written by Ben Quinn, the writer tells an elephant in Thailand killed its tamer, it is obvious that the animals below depression killed people is not the only example, for instance 'Witnesses said the elephant – known as Golf – grew angry after its handler climbed down to take photographs, refusing to follow his instructions. The handler is said to have hit the elephant several times, which then stabbed him with a tusk before rising up and throwing the tourists off.' (Quinn) This example shows the did not have any intent to hurt people, even they were just be seen as same as tools for fun, but the lash again and again from the trainer eventually provoked the elephant and caused the tragedy. Although the elephant is genial and tamed, it will lose its sanity after being provoked.

To sum up, Tilikum and elephant are all the animal would not hurt people, but when people let them leave the wild to train them to do the things completely different from their nature and hurt their physics and mental health, the animal will get angry, and we cannot foreknow what will happen, not to mention control it.

In the end, we will discuss animal performance and all the animal industrial chain caused the decline of the number of wild animals. The documentary 'The Cove' directed by Louie Psihoyos revealed to us that how Japanese killed dolphins cruelly. The director group broke the record this inhuman killing with a camera under the surveillance of the Japanese police department and the fishermen's obstruction. Most of the world's dolphins come from Taiji, Japan.

Thousands of dolphins trapped every year are first selected by dolphins domestically trained by the world, and the rest are driven to a hidden bay slaughter. It is estimated that 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed each year in Japan, and the government and fishermen have divided the benefits of selling dolphins. (Psihoyos) it is clear that the fishermen in Japan kill a lot of dolphins every year the caused the decreasing of dolphins in Japan. Dolphins are mammals who have self-awareness, and today, about a quarter of the existing whales and dolphins are threatened by different levels of survival, even facing extinction.

Similarly, the other documentary directed by Louie Psihoyos, 'Racing Extinction' also talked about the decreasing of wild animals because of animal trade. It showed the situation of endanger animals and give a lot of information about how they treat these animals inhumanity. For instance, it is estimated in Hong Kong, there are 250,000 sharks to be caught every day because of the fin trade. The sharks that have been cut off from the fins can only sink to the bottom of the sea and wait for the death. They were experienced four large animal extinctions have survived, and in the past 15 years, the number of sharks in each category has dropped by more than 75%. (Psihoyos) this quote shows the shark fin trade in China, not only the shark, the manta. Thousands of animals are preyed, killed every day, because of believing sharks fin and manta's gills are useful and helpful for their ailments.

In summary, the words in the quotations show humans have captured a large number of wild animals for their own benefit, causing a sharp decline in the number of wild animals. And the author using this unavoidable image to tell us that species are accelerating extinction because of our interests or wishes.

In conclusion, all life on the earth has the rights to freedom and dignity, and the dignity related to life and should never be deprived. Obviously, we still have a long way to go within protecting and respect all life, and what people should do firstly, is refuse to watch animal shows which violated their nature. Keiko and numerous elephants were abused by the people, even though they were created value for these organizations.

And even more,, unfortunately, humans have caused a sharp decline in the number of animals and death for their benefit. But letting animals violate their own natural performances will also cause harm to humans, Tilikum and the elephant are the best examples. Therefore, stop watching animal shows or use more humane methods to let people learn more about the nature of animals. If we can't help them, then at least don't continue to be the accomplice who hurts them, because protect animals is also protect human beings.