In zoos and circuses, as in many other fields, nonhuman animals are utilised as if they were objects for humans to use. They are locked up in cages, far away from their familiar surroundings. Consequently, they display severe symptoms of stress, boredom and psychological disturbances. A classic example of this is something called “stereotypical behaviour” (constant repetition of certain movements, such as turning around endlessly in circles). This type of behaviour is very common in captive animals. Some, which in nature enjoy complex social lives, are sentenced to a life of complete solitude. Many have to endure climates hostile to them, which in no way resembles that of the places where they come from. Summer is especially hard, because of the heat, for animals such as polar bears and penguins, whereas others, such as lions, suffer terribly during the winter. Aquatic animals (fish, turtles, marine mammals…) are confined to small aquaria, or left to languish in tiny swimming pools, where they can only turn round and round and… The chloride in the water usually irritates and seriously harms their skin and eyes. They can even be blinded by this.
Some zoos try to justify their activities by claiming that they contribute to the survival of certain species. Apart from this claim being false, as, in order to provide zoos with animals, many of them are trapped in the places where they were born, causing many deaths, this argument is unacceptable. The survival of a species can be no justification for torturing its members, because it is the individual creatures that have the capacity for suffering and enjoyment. The species itself does not. Would any of us be happy to be jailed for life on the pretext that it will promote the survival of the group to which we belong? We would certainly not accept to be caged up simply because we were one of very few humans with a particular hair colour. If we imagine ourselves in the same situations which animals suffer in zoos, we’ll see that what they want is to live their lives in freedom, without our interference.
In the case of circuses, we see the same situation as with zoos. Animals spend most of their lives in the small cages in which they are transported, and are only let out for training and performances. This close confinement has serious consequences, both physically and mentally, for the victims. The “tricks” which they are forced to do (bears balancing on balls, monkeys riding bikes, elephants standing on two legs…) are physically uncomfortable, painful and distressing. It is only through fear, caused by training which involves hard and constant punishment, that they act as they do.
The legal trade in animals as “companion objects”
Trading in animals reflects the view that these are objects, property that can be bought and sold as decorations or tools. In pet stores, they are crammed into cages, aquaria or terrariums of minimal proportions, so that the largest number of animals possible can be put on exhibition for sale. A lot of young animals spend a part of their infancy like this. They can’t play or explore their environment as they would normally do. This often causes these animals traumas that they will carry throughout their lives.
The breeding of animals is no better; it means that they are subjected to systematic exploitation. Females are, in the case of many animals, treated as production machines, continuously made pregnant to produce more “products”. The babies are taken away from their mother at an early age. This is, in many cases, very traumatic for both.
The most visible victims of this trade are probably cats and dogs. The circumstances they live in are often frustrating (chained or confined to flats or houses). When they cease to fulfil the function for which they were purchased, they are sometimes simply disposed of. Many of those taken as “pets” die by the millions every year in pounds and shelters that are filled to the limit by abandoned cats and dogs. Breeding and trading is the cause of this situation. But we don’t need to reflect too deeply on the matter to realise that behind it all lies the concept that animals are things that humans may use, rather than beings whose liberty should be respected.
It should be pointed out that adopting an animal from a pound or a shelter is quite a different matter from buying one. Purchasing animals signals our own interest in possessing someone, which is precisely what causes the situation these animals are suffering. Adopting an animal, on the other hand, does save him or her from death and continuous imprisonment, even if the animal won’t be living in ideal circumstances. This kind of rescue represents a “painkiller” for the situation (that is, it eases some of the consequences), but it’s not a solution to the whole of the problem.
Pet Shop Toys?
Other animals, such as hamsters, birds, turtles and fishes, also regularly sold in pet shops, are kept in cages or other kinds of enclosures much smaller than cats or dogs are. Birds are unable to fly, rodents lack soil or grass to run around in, fish are kept in small goldfish bowls where they can only swim in circles, and so on. The circumstances in which they are forced to live and the food they are given, brings about a very early death for many of them.
Finally, many animals are transported from one end of the earth to the other, captured when still young, after their parents or families have been killed. For every animal brought to a pet shop (or circus, zoo or laboratory) from a far away country, up to ten others die on the way. Many do so because of hunger, thirst or diseases, or suffocate in the hold of a ship or a plane. Others perish because of the tremendous stress of being captured. It isn’t possible to explain to them that they have been taken captive and they probably think that death is near. Few can bear such a situation. This clearly demonstrates the fallacy in the claim that animals suffer less because they lack certain intellectual capacities. This lack of understanding aggravates their suffering, it doesn’t lessen it.
The only protection existing today in this field is regulation of the trade in animals of species protected because they are threatened by extinction. But belonging to a group more numerous than others is no reason for receiving less consideration. A hamster, a goldfish or a canary value their lives just as much as any animal of a “protected species”.
Imagine being an elephant after hunters have shot you; as you die, you can see your own child being captured. Imagine you’re a bird or a fish, used to swimming or flying long distances, and all of a sudden you’re confined in a small tank or cage, where all you can do is wait for death. Sadly, this is the reality for a large number of animals who end up in pet stores, circuses or zoos.
What we can do to change their fate
Showing consideration for the interests of animals implies that we respect their lives and the environment they live in, and that we refuse to take part in practices that involve exploiting them, such as going to see them caged up in zoos or buying and selling them as objects to use as our companions.
There are many ways to have a good time without using animals. We can walk in the countryside, take part in sports, go to see films, theatre, concerts or circuses without animals. Some of these are: Circus Oz, Circus Chimera, Flying High Circus, Great Y Circus, Little Russian Circus, Mexican National Circus, Pan-Twilight Circus, Cirque Pouce, Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Alejandra Botto’s Circus, Circus Ethiopia, Cirque Volte Face, Circus Baobab… and there are many others!