Type of animal rights violation Animal abuse in circuses and zoos What it is It is the cruelty to animals in zoos and

nd circuses by treating them cruelly and unwarrantedly through the infliction of pain, suffering or harm upon them for purposes other than self-defense, instead for gain. of animals. Such treatment generally has a single point program - to subject animals to unnecessary harm and pain. One major type of animal cruelty is torture. Animal abuse can be classified into two separate categories. One is an active form of animal abuse and the other is a passive form. Active form of abuse involves cruelty to animals. It happens when an individual is purposely trying to cause some harm to an animal, like hurting or beating it. Passive abuse includes lack of care or negligence towards pets. This happens as a result of inaction. Generally, it has been observed that such a situation arises when the pet owner is not aware of or does not bother to take proper care of the pet's needs for food, shelter, medical attention etc. How it is done CIRCUSES various prominent circuses do not practice what they preach and indulge in animal cruelty on a routine basis. severely exploit and abuse animals, use very brutal training methods to establish and maintain the control necessary to make the circus animals perform their tricks. use of electric shock devices, sticks with concealed screws or spikes and give the circus animals severe beatings Tight collars, whips, beatings and torture given to animals, with no institute or individual looking after the training sessions of the circuses behavior of the animals during the circus shows is not at all natural, in the sense that tigers don't hop around and then lay down in unison, elephants don't walk trunk to tail and female elephants don't mount each other. All this is possible only by extreme training, which may translate into extreme torture. Due to the inhumane treatments, it has been proved that circus animals are dying at a higher rate than they are breeding. Circus animals spend most of their lives being transported in cages on top of trucks. Some circuses travel thousands of miles each year. Sometimes the animals are allowed to spend some time in an exercise cage. The only other times they get to be outside of their cages is to rehearse or perform. Elephants who in nature love to roam around spend most of the day being chained by a front and a hind leg, barely able to move. Like zoo elephants, circus elephants show a lot of abnormal behaviors like rocking, swaying and nodding Horses, who are very social animals, are separated and kept in tiny pens when they are not performing or rehearsing. dogs are usually kept in cages or tied up. As a result of not having a lot of money, circus operations will frequently not give their

animals enough water or food, clean their cages properly or give them adequate medical care elephants often not provided with basic medical first aid, ie. not treated medically for wounds inflicted during beatings and other natural causes. Circuses have known to keep a large amount of topsoil ready to camouflage the wounds and blood on the elephants. Tuberculosis is a major disease for them Some suffered from lameness, arthritis and food abscesses. do not have wide spaces to move around, leading to osteoporosis which causes common elephant deaths. Often deprives baby elephants of their mothers and their freedom ZOOS Animals taken from the wild, snatched out of their natural environment and placed in enclosures, especially baby animals, as zoos like to display baby animals because the public finds them cute and is drawn to displays with babies. Zoos breed animals for animal experiments and to produce babies to attract more visitors so they can increase their profits. When they breed too many animals and create a surplus, zoos are known to kill their own animals, Or worse, they sell them to hunting ranches. supplied animals to the exotic meat industry. supplied animals to circuses Surplus animals are destroyed or sold. Most zoo collections are comprised of large charismatic species, such as giraffes, elephants, tigers etc. These animals are 'crowd pullers', and are kept in captivity for the benefit of zoos themselves. animals are caged and may be deprived of their normal society, their families and mates. They have little opportunity to run, soar in the sky, swing through the trees, or roam over large distances. usually have nothing to do, don't need to use their intelligence and skills to solve daily problems of survival, don't have to look for food, shelter or mates, and they don't have to be on alert to avoid predators. Nothing much changes in a zoo enclosure. These abnormal behaviours has led to some animals becoming apathetic and showing signs of mental disturbance. They may self-mutilate, eat their excrement elephants Are kept captive. Often abused, causing immeasurable suffering to them, even death elephant trainers use electric shock devices eg. electric goads to train to perform circus type tricks, long-term damage caused Who is responsible for it zoo keepers circus trainers

Why it occurs for entertainment and recreation purposes for us zoos and circuses want to make profits Where it is most prevalent china USA What has been done about it governments have come forward and banned or restricted the use of animals in circuses. Organizations formed to prevent cruelty to animals: People For Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) etc. By who Sweden, Costa Rica, Austria, Finland, India, and Singapore What you can do about it Animal abuse can be reduced to a great extent, if people stop treating animals as their personal property. They end up abusing animals more because of their attitude that animals are needed either as food or as companions or for entertainment. Write polite letters to both the editors of the local and state papers. This gets the message across to a large number of people at one time Write letters to your local council asking that they consider joining the other statewide councils in placing a ban on leasing land to circuses using animals/exotic animals. This is an important tool in helping to raise the awareness of both the council and councillors as to the issues that surround the cruelty and suffering the animals endure. If you see a circus that uses exotic animals please contact the animal welfare groups in your area or email Circus Watch WA, RSPCA or Animal Liberation WA, NSW, SA, Vict or QLD as soon as possible with all the relevant details. Take a camera or video camera with you and take photos or footage of the animals and their conditions. Remember to take note of the day, date, time and place, plus any other details you think would help. Contact Circus Watch WA, the RSPCA, Animal Liberation or Animals Australia with your information. Collect a petition form and get it filled out. The more the message gets out to the public in all manner of ways the more people think about the plight and suffering of these beautiful creatures, the more they will boycott circuses that use animals Always boycott any circus using animals. By paying, your money contributes to the continued suffering so instead, support cruelty free human circuses like Circus OZ or Cirque du Soliel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruelty_to_animals http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-cruelty-animal-abuse-facts-statistics.html http://elephant.elehost.com/News/Circus_News/circus_news.html

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Animal-Rights-2716/animal-cruelty-zoos.htm http://www.animalliberation.org.au/zoos.php http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/circuses.htm