Ringling Brothers is set to close its doors later this year after 146 years of being open. Ringling Brothers is a notorious animal circus, which has came under much criticism is the past few decades. The criticism about Ringling Brothers comes because of the company's use of animals in entertainment. And animal abuse.
The animal abuse which Ringling Brothers have inflicted on the animals in their care is various. They have been caughtbeating up animals. Tying up animals like elephants and tigers for most of the day, in dimly lit rooms. The animals in Ringling Brothers care are also forced to perform. They are trained to fear bullhooks and electric prods.
Bullhooks are used on animals like elephants to force them to perform tricks that they would not do in the wild. Bullhooks are used on the most sensitive part of the elephant, such as behind the ears. Doing this inflicts the most pain on the animal, and forces them to perform tricks in a circus that is not in their natural behavior. The bullhook use by Ringling Brothers is one of the main criticisms that the company has received.
The criticism towards Ringling Brothers made them take action early last year. When they said that they would be abolishing elephants from their acts.
The use of performing elephants is not the only criticism directed towards Ringling Brothers, it has also been condemned for the way that it treats all of it's animals. From; Tigers, camels and horses, animal abuse has been endemic at Ringling Brothers.
But the future closer of Ringling Brothers offers hope to animals that are kept in captivity. The reason that Ringling Brothers stated that it was closing down was due to a decline in ticket sales. The demand for animal performances is declining. Ringling Brothers reason for closing down has also been mirrored in one other company; Seaworld.
Seaworld has also faced a decline in ticket sales. Last August it was reported that almost half a million less people visited Seaworld. It has also been reported that their profits have declined as much as 84%. The decline in their profits comes in the wake of the documentary Blackfish. Which documented the; abuse and neglect of the animals in the companies care.
Seaworld is the next to close down. It's not a matter of if they close down, but when. Their story is similar to that of Ringling Brothers. They have a declining audience and they've just stopped Oraca shows. It just seems a matter of time now until it closes.
What we should learn from both Ringling Brothers and Seaworld is that we are powerful. We are powerful because we have a choice. A choice in what we consume. What we consume determines what is carried out in our name. If we consume meat, then we create world where factory farms exist, and animal abuse exists. If we become customers of animal entertainment shows, then we allow a world were animal entertainment is accepted and inflicted.
As consumers, we are powerful. As consumers we create the world around us. If we want to live in a more compassionate world, then part of that is in creating compassion ourselves. Partly that is down to what we buy. The top of society is only a reflection of the rest of society. When most people change, society changes. When most people boycott products which inflict animal abuse, then we create a world where there is little to no animal abuse.
We are what creates society. And together, we are starting to make a society which is more compassionate for animals.