Expert: Stephen Vantassel - 3/16/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi again
I was wondering on animal treatment in circus. as a child i told my mom that i wanted to stop going to the cirus cause i felt bad for the animal that were locked up and abused. Are all cirus known for that? they were enjoyable memories going there and i would like to take my children for them to have the same memories, but i dont want to suport people who hurt animal for our entertainment. I'm not sure if it worth it and i'm not sure which cirus is repratable. I really dont care if i ever see one again but i dont want to say no until i know for a fact that it is wrong to support such a organization.

ANSWER: The question is more difficult than that because the issue hinges on what is cruelty.

Animal rights activists would claim that humans have no right to use animals for our own purposes. Therefore, even pet ownership would be cruel because the pet is there to serve the owner's needs, even though the pet had what could be considered a good life.

If you believe that pet ownership is wrong, then circuses are not for you.

If you believe that animals can serve man then circuses would be an option. As far as how the animal is treated, remember that not every action that causes animal pain is cruel (i.e. spanking your dog) nor is every pet owner responsible. Such is also the case with circuses. Some animal owners treat their animals well others don't.

You need to answer the ultimate question first, is animal ownership evil or not. If you say no. Then you need to ask the next question, can a circus be an example of responsible ownership?

I can assure you that there are plenty of animal rights groups who will show video of this and that kind of abusive behavior in a circus. As much as we may decry the specific action, that doesn't tell us if circuses by defnition always cause these bad actions. We don't know how much video the animal rights activists took of responsible ownership that they didn't show.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: of i belive owning animals is ok as long as you provided them proper care and love. I own myself 2 dogs, 1 cat and a white dumpy tree frog. I go to any means to make sure there happy and health. I've seen the videos of circus using hooks on the elephans legs, jabbing them to do things. I just dosent seem right with wild animals being chained up and locked in little cages. I guess you can say the same things as the Zoo too. It is a hard thing to determine if the action is good or not. Im not sure if these animals are treated right or not. all i've seen is the negitive (elephans with chained legs, tigers in small cramp cages. would you know if the shriner circus is repratable? I dont belive animals could "help" man not serve i.e. service dog helping the blind. i'm thinking of taking my kids at least once and letting them make there choice on what they belive is good treatment, like i did. I'm just so uncofortable paying a ticket for such a thing.

Answer
I would suggest you contact the circus directly. But remember, an animal is different than a human. How would you suggest an elephant be chained? Should we chain it at the neck, tail, what about the trunk? Just because something doesn't look right to us doesn't mean it is cruel.

Having a sensitive conscience is fine. Just be sure it is a properly informed conscience.