Someone at the Whirlpool forum posted a thread about animals in circuses, being against the practice. Surprisingly some circuses in Australia still use exotic animals (lions, elephants, etc.) despite this being increasingly discredited. I have never been to a circus, but find the idea of those animals being used for entertainment degrading for them even if they are treated well. Using animals for entertainment generally is akin to slavery in my view (and it is not that long since some humans – mainly tribal peoples – were put on display for so-called “entertainment” in the last century in human zoos).
Typically for the site, in that thread some reply with inane comments like “Oh look, the drama queen fun police are here to impose their stupid version of morality on everyone” or “Here we go again. The animal libs at it again pushing there agenda again” (animal liberationists seem to be despised by some types). I suppose they would find bear-baiting or dog-fighting acceptable?
I recently read a 2010 article about orcas (killer whales) in captivity: “The Killer in the Pool”. Imagine taking a person from everything they had known and keeping them in confinement for years, and being made to perform tricks – they would eventually go mad. Orcas are intelligent and highly social animals, and to abduct them from their families and keep them in captivity for decades is nothing short of barbaric. There was an attempt earlier this year to sue Sea World for effectively keeping orcas in slavery, but it was dismissed in court. (Predictably the case received mostly mocking comments on Whirlpool and no doubt elsewhere; proof that a lot of humans are indifferent when it comes to animal captivity.)
To answer another point that always seems to be brought up in these sorts of discussions (as it was in that thread), I don’t find it a contradiction to oppose animals being used for entertainment yet for myself to eat meat. Predators hunting prey is part of Nature’s cycle, and humans evolved as omnivores. Ideally, animals used for food would be killed humanely.
Edit: “Circuses and Zoos are crimes against wildlife” at The Habitat Blog.
