Animal training circuses is an activity that has no ethics – or indeed any point at all. One Voice denounces the violence inflicted on animals to make them perform counter to their nature.
Fear and force, the instruments of training
To get a lion to jump through a hoop, a bear to dance on a ball or an elephant to walk on his hind legs, there’s no mystery, no special relationship with the trainer, no intimacy… No, the only driving force that makes these animals put on shows that go against their nature and are often painful for them is fear. The trainer imposes his will through force. He compels them to perform through force and “negative conditioning”. “For a lion to stand on his stool he needs to understand that it’s only there that he will have peace…". This was said by a trainer and overheard by our investigator. These animals suffer at the end of a stick. Dogs and cats are not left out. Their training is also strict. And between two sessions they also live enclosed, often piled on top of each other in cages.
Contrary to nature
The performances that animals have to give in circuses are against their nature. In most cases they are forced into positions that are not natural for them, or are kept in uncomfortable positions for a long time. The result is many injuries, fractures and behavioural problems. Compelled mercilessly to perform the same pointless movements time after time – if only to escape punishment – deprived of any form of freedom of expression, animals become depressed, wither away and even give up and die. Sometimes, in a final attempt to grasp–onto some form of life they try to rebel. There is no hope left for them. The trainer, who then considers the animal unfit, has no interest in keeping him alive. As for those who do manage to get away, if they belong to a dangerous species they are most often killed by the authorities.
Misinformation to children
Training has no sense. There cannot even be any attempt to justify it by educational reasons, saying that it helps us to get to know species. Animals which would normally never meet, such as tigers from Asia and lions from Africa, find themselves performing together. And they’re not even demonstrating their natural behaviour – they are acting the clown and being ridiculed. For example, the chimpanzee who wears a costume and everyone thinks it laughing is actually expressing fear. What is the point in showing children how, through force and obligation we can make the weakest creatures do what we want and oblige them to do anything, even forget themselves? Why do we make them believe that these wild and domestic animals are playing and having fun with humans when they are suffering and are frightened ?
Wild animals should only be in the wild. As for domestic animals, their only role should be to share humans’ lives and keep each other company…
Compelled mercilessly to perform the same pointless movements time after time – if only to escape punishment – deprived of any form of freedom of expression, animals become depressed, wither away and even give up and die…
