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"The cruel wild beast is not behind the bars of the cage. He stands in front of it."

          - Axel Munthe
Circuses, zoos, bullfights, horse racing,
carriage horses, cock fights, greyhound racing. Is this entertainment? In a time of almost unlimited possibilities, there are "kinder", "gentler" ways for humans to feed, clothe, and entertain ourselves.
CIRCUSES

          Physical punishment has always been the standard training method for animals in circuses. Training is also based on fear and intimidation. In order to maintain control over the animals, trainers must break their spirit. Elephants are routinely tied down and beaten for days while they are being "trained to perform". During their "training" elephants are beaten with clubs, shocked with electric prods, stabbed with sharp bullhooks and whipped.

          Cats in circuses are also trained with inherently cruel and dominating methods to force them to perform unnatural tricks. Exotic cats are often whipped, choked, and beaten during training sessions. To force a cat like a tiger to stand on her hind legs, her paws are often burned with cigarette lighters. To make the cats run into the arena "enthusiastically", they are often prodded with pipes or frightened with loud noises to make them appear excited to perform.

          The tricks that animals are forced to perfom in circuses are physically uncomfortable and behaviorally unnatural. Whips, muzzles, electric prods, collars, bullhooks, and other tools used on animals during circus acts are reminders that the animals are being forced to perform.

          As more people realize the cruelty of forcing animals to perform, circuses that use animals are finding fewer places to set up their tents. Several countries have restricted or banned the use of animals in entertainment, including Sweden, India, Finland, Switzerland, and Denmark. England often denies the use of public space to circuses using animals. In the United States, several municipalities have banned exotic animal acts.
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ZOOS

          Despite the fact that zoos profess to educate and preserve various animal species, they often fall quite short on both counts. Most visitors to zoos spend only a few minutes at each cage, seeking entertainment rather than education. When you visit a zoo you realize that most cages are quite small, and the only information provided to the public is little more than the species' name, diet and natural range. Rarely, if ever is the animals' normal behavior ever discussed, let alone observed, since their natural needs are rarely if ever met.

          Birds often have their wings clipped so that they can't fly, aquatic animals have very little water, and many animals who naturally live in large, social herds are often kept alone, or at most in pairs. Instinctive mating and hunting behaviors are virtually eliminated by regulated feeding and breeding regimens. Animals are kept closely confined, lack privacy and have little opportunity for mental stimulation or physical exercise, resulting in an abnormal behavior called zoochosis.

          The Born Free Foundation conducted a world-wide study of zoos and revealed that zoochosis is rampant in confined animals around the globe. One sanctuary that is home to rescued zoo animals reported frequent cases of zoochosis in animals brought to them from zoos.

          Zoos remain now, as always more a "collection" of interesting items rather than actual havens or simulated habitats. Zoos teach people, and more often than not children, that it is acceptable to keep animals imprisoned, bored, cramped, lonely and far from their natural homes.
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Rodeos

          Rodeos teach us that cruelty to animals is manly and that domination is more important than compassion. Typical rodeo events include calf roping, steer wrestling, bareback horse and bull riding, saddle bronc riding and steer roping. The animals used in rodeos are captive performers. Because of the harsh treatment they receive, they are understandably distrustful of humans. Most rodeo animals are not aggressive by nature, but are provoked into exhibiting "wild" behavior in order to make the cowboys look brave. 

          Electric rods, sharp sticks and other tortuous devices are used to enrage and iritate rodeo animals. The "bucking" strap used to make horses and bulls buck is tightly cinched around their abdomens, where there is no rib cage protection. The belt pinches the groin and genitals and causes the animal to buck, which is what rodeo promoters want in order to put on a "good show".

          Dr. C.G. Haber, a veterinarian who has 30 years experience as a federal meat inspector, worked in slaughterhouses around the country and saw many animals discarded from rodeos sold for slaughter. According to Dr. Haber, rodeo animals routinely arrive for slaughter with two to three gallons of free blood accumulated under their skin. Other animals are so extensively bruised as a result of being thrown in calf- roping events that the only areas in which skin is attached (to the flesh) were the head, neck, leg and belly.

          Rodeo is a cruel and inhumane form of "entertainment" that serves no useful purpose, and should be abolished.
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Bullfighting

          Some 35,000 bulls are tormented and killed in bullfights every year. Upon entering the ring, the bull is repeatedly stabbed by the matador, two picadors on horses and three men on foot. Once the bull is completetly weakened by blood loss, fear and exhaustion the matador tries to make a clean kill with a sword to the heart. Unfortunately for the bull, the matador is rarely successful on the first try and must make several attempts, often missing the bull's heart and piercing his lungs instead. Often a dagger must be used to cut the bull's spinal cord to spare the audience the sight of a defenseless animal in the throes of death.

          Bulls are routinely debilitated with tranquilizing drugs and laxatives, have heavy weights hung around their necks for weeks before the fight, endure beatings to the kidneys, have petroleum jelly rubbed into their eyes to blur vision, and are confined to darkness for hourse before being released into the bright arena.           

Many bulls also have their horns "shaved" before the fight. Shaving a bull's horns involves literally sawing off several inches of the horns so the bull will miss his lunges.

          Bulls are not the only victims in the ring. Horses used in bullfights are also victimized. Blindfolded so they cannot run away, the horses are used to draw the terrified and confused bull into an attack. Two men on horseback repeatedly spear the bull, while the horse takes the punishment. Although they are wrapped in padding, horses are regularly injured and killed in bullrings.

          Bullfighting is arguably the most cowardly act of animal cruelty imaginable. It is nothing more than glorified cruelty. Some traditions are worthy of respect, this savage spectacle however, is a tradition that deserves to die.
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Cockfighting

          Cockfighting is a barbaric bloodsport in which two roosters are placed in a pit to fight, usually to the death. Their natural spurs are sawed off and replaced by a razor sharp steel blades called "gaffs". These blades measure up to three inches long. The birds are also given various drugs such as strychnine, amphetamines, caffeine and epinephrine to make them more aggressive and harder to kill.

          Typical cockfighting tournaments result in one third to one half of the birds being killed. Both winners ans losers suffer severe injuries including broken wings, gouged eyes, and punctured lungs. The American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Poultry Association consider cockfighting to be cruel and have recommended that the practice be banned and violations be considered felonies.

          Cockfighting is illegal in all but 3 U.S. States - Louisiana, New Mexico (where it is banned in 9 counties and 20 municipalities), and Oklahoma. In the majority of American States, cockfighting has been banned for more than 100 years. In 19 states, cockfighting is a felony offense, and in 33 states it is against the law merely to watch a cockfight. Making the practice illegal significantly reduces the number of birds that are killed. While some cockfighting still takes place in states where it is banned, making it illegal shuts down the large established cockfighting pits that kill up to 1,000 birds in one weekend event.
Horse Racing

          Under Construction 
Carriage Horses

          Every year, hundreds of carriage horses in the United States and around the world are used, abused, and then slaughtered. That is of course, if they are not killed on the streets first. According to the Carriage Horse Action Committee, the average working life of a carriage horse in New York City is less than four years. As much as the operators of horse and carriage operations would like us to believe that their trade is "romantic", it is anything but that in today's crowded cities. Horses are made to work long hours in all types of weather, battle traffic, breathe exhaust fumes from buses, trucks and cars. In general, horses are not adequately watered, since the sight of a horse urinating is "bad for business".

          Lameness and hoof deterioration are inevitable consequences of a life spent unnaturally walking and jogging on the asphalt of city streets. Here in New York City, we enjoy the dubious distinction of having the highest carriage horse accident rate in the country. Carriage horse accidents occur in every city that allows this cruel trade to continue. Weather conditions also play a huge role. In 1994, two horses died within a 16 day period of hot summer weather. Another year, three horses died on the same day, followed by a fourth shortly afterwards.

          The good news is that more and more people are refusing to patronize this cruel trade. In fact, pressure from concerned residents has resulted in bans on carriage horses in a number of cities, including Palm Beach, Florida; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Las Vegas, Nevada; London; Paris and Toronto.
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Entertainment?