In America, animals are used for many different things, most to benefit human beings. Animals in the entertainment industry such as; circuses, whale shows, dolphin shows, and zoos are being abused and denied resources they would normally have abundantly in the wild. Every year animals get captured from the wild and to be slaughtered for their body parts.

To start off, in 1973 a theme park focused on performing Orca whales, also known as SeaWorld, opened. Whales were captured from the ocean and taken to SeaWorld where they would spend the rest of their lives with their trainers performing shows to the public. The theme park makes money by tourists paying to swim with, play with, and pet dolphins. Tourists also pay to watch dolphin shows and whale shows. Often times the trainers will starve the dolphins or whales before a show because if the animal is hungry it will perform tricks to get food. This is a method of select starvation and bribery. When tourists pay to feed a dolphin they must touch the food, this often contaminates it which could get the dolphin sick. Usually many tourists at a time feed the dolphins, when this happens the dolphins get over fed and soon become obese. Marine theme parks showcase their work as if everything they do has the animal’s best interest at heart, this is incredibly wrong. Starving and bribing an animal to get them to perform for the audience to make money for the theme park is not the animal’s best interest; it is the company’s.

Think of this: an elephant balancing on a ball, a tiger jumping through fire. Those are behaviors that would not occur without hours of training. Circus animals spend most of their lives in confinement with little to no exercise. Imagine spending most of your life in a cardboard box: that box is your bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom. Not only is this unsanitary, but it is inhumane. Elephants often develop arthritis because they cannot properly exercise while transporting to a circus show. The circus performers and trainers ignore the fact that the elephants are in pain and continue to force them to perform and train by beating them. Overall, circus animals live lives of confinement, social deprivation, and violent training methods.

Furthermore, some zoos breed endangered species in order to get the population growing. Most zoo breeding programs have the intention to attract customers (Marzilli, 118). After all, baby animals do attract a lot of tourists. Zoos have completely healthy animals in cages and claim they are helping them. Those animals would do much better in the wild than in an artificial enclosure.

To continue, some people like to wear makeup, use hair spray, hair gel, and shaving cream. Certain brands test these products on animals before marketing to the public. These products are non-essential and are not required for someone to live (Brooks, 21). That begs the question, if humans do not need these items to survive, why are they being tested on animals? Before you purchase a cosmetic product, check to see if it is tested on animals. If the product is tested on animals, buy a different one. In the cavemen days, animal hides were used to make coats and blankets in order for people to stay warm. Fur coats are still purchased today, even though modern technology has created thermal coats that do not require animal fur. Since fur coats are a non-essential product, why are animals being killed to make them? The answer is because humans think they are fashionable, for some it is a way to show wealth. Wearing a coat made of human skin is unacceptable, but according to fashion designers wearing a coat of animal hide is acceptable.

In addition, many people think humans have more value than animals. Truth is, there is not a way to measure the value of life something has. This cannot be decided by intelligence because some humans have developmental disabilities. This cannot be decided by the degree of self-awareness because toddlers have a lower degree of self-awareness than adults. When people say they disrespect animals because they have a lesser value of life, it is not a valid excuse.

All in all, animals should have rights. Animals should not be forces to perform tricks or acts to make a profit. People should take action for animal rights by boycotting products tested on animals. People should also wear faux fur or thermal coats instead of rea fur. Avoiding circuses and animal theme parks can stop animal abuse and select starvation. Animals should not be forced to do things for a person. However, if an animal is given proper care to provide for human beings such as a cow used for milk on a farm, it is okay. This is okay because it is not an infringement on the animal’s health and safety.