Entertainment at the Expense of Animals Bobby Puente Period 1-2 2-3-17 Circuses, zoos, and rodeos, everyday places you would go as a child. Little did you know that horrible cruel things are happening to the animals when patrons are not around. Entertainment should not be held at the expense of animals. Entertainment with animals should not be held because it will hurt the business in the long run, if the business doesn’t have animals it will save them money, and animals should not be forced to do things they do not want to do. The first reason why entertainment should not be held at the expense of animals is because it will hurt the business in the long run. A key point in the article “Entertainment at Whose Expense? An Animal Rights …show more content…
Notably, in the article “Entertainment at Whose Expense? An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org” by Annoula Wylderich it states “The plight of Stoney, an elephant born in a zoo and subsequently dumped to a circus when he was only 3 years old. He worked for the next 21 years, until the day he was forced to do a leg stand while warming up at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. Stoney pulled a ham-string in his left rear leg, which is a crucial injury to an elephant. He was unable to walk. He was in extreme pain and needed immediate veterinary care, which was denied to him…. After his year of existing in miserable, lonely conditions, and suffering even more pain during the attempt to move him, he was euthanized.”(Wylderich, 2014, 1) In this case, this article shows that businesses should not use animals at their expense because if Stoney wasn’t forced to do a leg stand, he may have not pulled his hamstring and lived nearly a full year of his life in pain. Also Stoney may have not been euthanized or died at all if he wasn’t forced to do a leg stand. In addition, in the article “In Death, Tilikum Is Finally Free” it states “The company’s announcement that it would end its orca-breeding program came too late for Tilikum, who was bred 21 times---and 11 of his offspring died before he did. From the moment he was taken from his …show more content…
In the article “A Zoo is a Great Educational Tool” by Rex Ettlin, it states “A zoo’s paramount purpose is to promote wildlife conservation. A zoo exists to educate. Research happens, recreation happens, but above all is the intent to educate. The educational potential is at its greatest with a professional educator designing a learning activity to use at the zoo. The zoo is a great tool and it’s at its best when a real artisan is using it, a classroom teacher who has designed focused activities connected to a long-term curriculum.” (Ettlin, 2009, 1) Although this may be true, animals should not be used in entertainment and businesses at their expense. In the article “In Death, Tilikum Is Finally Free it states, “He was taken from his ocean home and confined to a small cement cell 100 million times smaller than the home range that he would have lived in if he’d remained free.” (2017, 1) To wrap things up, zoos may be educational but the animals may be there at their expense and may not be there