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Dear Amy,
My anger towards animal entertainment industries made this research project rewarding.
Knowing I could educate individuals on how to end animal industries made the work heart
breaking, but worth it. I know the targeted length was 2500 words, but I felt that was not enough
to explain the extent of my topic. Throughout my paper I organized the main topics in an order
that would give the reader a better understanding of the events. I started with the laws, I decided
to do this for the reader to understand how each industry was breaking the law. I then went into
certain examples that showed clear evidence of fault towards the industries and how they were
still going unenforced. I am confident in the information I found, I feel that it establishes ethos
for my paper; giving me strong creditability. I feel as if I could have made better transitions. I
also feel like I could have introduced my quotes into the paragraph better. I found it hard to
introduce the quotes without disturbing the flow of the sentence; some places I could not find the
wording to make it work. Before you begin reading my paper, I want you to know that there was
no clear answer to why these laws go unenforced. I found one quote on how the lack of
employees were at fault, but there are many other reasons that are based on uncertain reasons.

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Joyce Pour-Azar
Dr. Amy Lynch-Biniek
Eng. 023 College composition
November 5, 2015
Abuse in Animal Entertainment Industries
I can still see the lights from the Ringling Brothers sign as I walked under it as a child
with my father. The smell of the cotton candy and the taste of popcorn as we waited in line to
enter. Waiting for the show to begin as I sat in the stands, I prayed to someday work in such a
magical place. One by one the acts went on, until it was time for my favorite; the elephants. The
elephants paraded out, vibrantly painted and dressed. I remember my excitement and the
jealousy I felt towards the people who got to work with these animals. I also remember seeing
the trainers poking at the elephants with stick like objects behind their legs and thinking nothing
of it. The way I felt that day at the circus was a memory I cherished until my teenage years, when
I discovered the awful truth.
The life of an entertainment animal is challenging. They are neglected, abused, and
forced with punishment to perform. The reality of what happens behind the scenes of The
Greatest Show on Earth and other animal entertainment industries often goes unspoken.
The circus is not the only industry to blame. Another famous animal entertainment
industry is SeaWorld. SeaWorld deprives the orcas of food and keeps them in small enclosures.
There are many other harmful animal industries we often would not think about being harmful,
for example horse-drawn carriages, zoos, bull riding, and many more. Animal entertainment

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industries paint a picture of a happy, fun, safe environment for families and children. What are
we teaching children when we reward them with these exciting day trips to these industries? We
are sending the message to children that it is normal to abuse, punish, and neglect beautiful
animals for our personal selfish desires. Educating each induvial who pays into these industries
will bring them one step closer to shutting down. As visitors begin seeing the evidence about
these industries they pay into, hopefully attendance will decrease, causing the closure of these
harmful entertainment industries.
While entertainment industries are required to follow the laws protecting these animals,
often they do not, due to inadequate enforcement. The lack of enforcement leads to never ending
abuse of these animals because industries know they can get away with it. The Animal Welfare
Act and The Endangered Species Act are both very commonly known animal protection laws. If
the visitors knew how animal entertainment industries are breaking these laws, maybe they
would be less likely to attend.
In 1966, the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) was established. It is a federal law that protects
animals that are used for research; during that time it was the first law of its kind. In 1970,
congress amended the act to extend its protections to animals used for exhibition purposes
(Beverage 158). The amending of the AWA now meant that animals in the entertainment industry
are protected. This was an issue these industries did not have to deal with before.
Now they had to worry about everything the law entitled. The Animal Welfare Act
entitles, the humane care and treatment of a wide array of animals, including those employed in
carnivals, circuses, and zoos. The animals must be handled in a manner that does not cause
trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm, or unnecessary discomfort. In addition, physical abuse
may not be used to train, work, or otherwise handle animals. Lastly, exhibited animals must have

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sufficient space to make normal postural and social adjustments with adequate freedom of
movement (Beverage 158). What the AWA entitles play a part in prosecuting the industries that
are at fault for breaking them. The issue that arises from prosecuting the industries at fault is
simply the prosecutor.
The prosecutor is elected by The Animal Welfare Act, they are known as the Secretary of
Agriculture. They have the power to license exhibitors. Secretary also has the power to
investigate to determine whether the statute or regulations are being violated. If the secretary
feels regulations are being violated, the power to revoke or suspend exhibition license is theirs
(Beverage 158). These laws have been put into place to protect animals we decided to use for our
personal enjoyment, but somehow people are more than often not prosecuted for their actions;
they have been able to get around them. In addition to the AWA, the Endangered Species Act is
important to the protection of the animals in the entertainment industries.
In 1973 The Endangered Species act was established (ESA); It entitles the prohibition
of removing or taking an endangered species, including any such animal held in captivity
(Beverage 160). Under the Endangered Species Act, one may not, harass an endangered species
by annoying the animal to such an extent as to significantly disrupt normal behavioral patterns,
including breading, feeding, or sheltering. Additionally, a person may not harm an endangered
species by killing it or injuring - either directly or indirectly (Beverage 160). The ESA plays a
huge part in maintaining safety for the animals in captivity that are close to extinction. In
circuses most use endangered Asian elephants. In SeaWorld orcas are endangered as well, but
how can they imprison these animals if the ESA states they cannot?
Protecting and repopulating endangered species is important, therefore, certain
exceptions are put into place. Similar to the Secretary of Agriculture, a Secretary of Interior is

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responsible for the Endangered Species Act. They have the power to grant permits authorizing
certain takings that enhance the propagation or survival of the affected species (Beverage 160).
If a permit is granted, one can breed an endangered species to prolong the existence, as long as
it meets the Animal Welfare acts standards and actions are not likely to injure the animal
(Beverage 161). The problem with the exceptions they grant industries is that it does not always
benefit the animal. How is putting endangered species such as the Asian elephant or killer whales
in circuses and marine parks beneficial? Yes, it is beneficial to industries gaining money, but not
beneficial to the animals. The Endangered Species Act was put into place to protect and prolong
the lives of these animals, but it seems that they are doing almost the exact opposite.
Ringling Brothers Circus is often referred to as the cruelest show on earth for its
unexplainable elephant deaths, the use of bull hooks, and harsh environments.
A prime example occurred during a show in 1988, a three year old Asian elephant by the
name of Kenny was performing when workers noticed he was acting sickly. He was forced to
continue performing until he developed diarrhea and began bleeding from his bottom to the
point of not being able to walk or hardly stand. Federal regulations imply if an elephant is sick
they must get immediate veterinary care and approved before performing again; both had not
occurred according to paper work on Kenny (Nelson 48). After Kenny collapsed, then was
veterinary care called in. The veterinary advised trainers to allow a few days for Kenny to rest.
Kenny was also not to take part in further shows, he was prescribed antibiotics and rehydrated.
Gunther Gebel-Williams world famous trainer disagreed, and Kenny appeared in another show
that night. Two hours following the show, Kenny was found dead on his stall floor (Nelson 48).
The veterinarian could not find a cause of death. Ringing Brothers waited a whole week to
release his death to the questioning public.

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Why would Ringling Brothers wait to release news of his death, if they were not guilty or
responsible for Kennys death? Ringing Brothers broke both the Animal Welfare Act and the
Endangered Species Act. The AWA act was broken by not attending to Kennys medical issue
immediately. The ESA was broken due to the fact the endangered animal was killed, regardless if
it was directly or indirectly. Shortly after the death of Kenny the United States Department of
Agriculture announced a verdict.
Due to the fact the veterinarian could not find a cause of death for reasons undetermined,
benefited Ringling Brothers in the outcome of this case. They would be let off with donating
twenty thousand dollars to elephant causes. In return the agency absolved the companys blame
for Kennys death and published they never violated the Animal Welfare Act or The endangered
Species Act (Nelson 50). Personally, I do not understand why they were let off the hook. They
clearly broke the fine detail of both acts and they were just fined. They claim the lack of
enforcement comes from not enough employees, but when caught violating the law they fine the
industries. Their licenses should have been revoked, not just slapped on the wrist. Feld
Entertainment is the owner of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, both were involved in
breaking the law.
After the case of Kenny, a few weeks later another Feld Entertainment Circus let an
elephant die in an overheated trailer due to an infection that they left untreated. Instead of
shutting the circus down for violating the federal law twice in a matter of weeks, they got a slap
on the wrist. The company was fined two-hundred thousand dollars for neglecting to treat the
elephants salmonella infection (Nelson 50). If they violated the federal law several times in a
small amount of time, why are they still in business? The Secretary of Agriculture has the power
to prosecute and fining the industry, but again no enforcement. Unfortunately, on top of the

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unexplainable deaths and harsh environments, the abuse continues physically with the use of a
bull hook.
If you have ever been to the circus you may have or may have not seen a bull hook.
Elephant trainers walk aside the elephants with a poll like object tucked away in their sleeve,
they use this tool referred to as a bull hook to correct the elephant when they make a mistake
(Nelson 51). In other words they strike the elephant, often breaking skin, to keep them on
routine. This is a form of abuse, but Feld Entertainment denies their use of bull hooks for
physical beatings. They portray their elephants as pampered performers who are trained through
positive reinforcement, a system of repetition and reward (Nelson 51). Evidence from exemployees and activists proved otherwise. The use of bull hook in all forms should be banned.
Regardless if they striking the elephant or are threatening the elephant with the tool, it is still a
form of abuse. The use of the bull hook is also breaking The Endangered Species Act because is
putting these animals in distress. It seems that these laws are being pushed aside and many cases
are going unprosecuted, but why?
According to W. Ron DeHaven an ex-employee of the agency responsible for
inspecting animal entertainment industries, with a hundred and eleven employees to monitor
nearly nine-thousand animal entertainment, breeding, and research facilities, the agency didnt
have the capacity to prosecute many cases (Nelson 51). The question is why is Feld
Entrainment getting away with these cases and all the presentable evidence to back it up? Well it
does not end here.
Circuses are moving industries that travel around the country by railroad. They must fill
out charts while traveling, including the times and dates of each stop to make sure they are
meeting regulations. During the years of 2000-2008, calculations from the charts showed the

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elephants traveled 26 hours straight on average without stopping. Some elephants were left
standing for over 70 hours without a break. The longest was a 100 hours without a break on a
1,830 mile trip from Lexington Kentucky to Tucson Arizona (Nelson 55). This clear document
evidence that has been recorded by Feld Entertainment themselves, yet nothing was done about
it. Once again this case of abuse break both AWA and the ESA.
It is clear that there are two very important acts put into place to protect to these animals.
The fact of the matter is they are not being enforced to the levels the public might perceive or
believe they are. Due to the low amount of cases being prosecuted, some believe this issue is
simply under control. Form the evidence I have found and the cases I have come across
regulators do not have the employees or budget to do their job correctly. Even when they do
prosecute a case the end result is always just a fine. Therefore, why would these industries stop
their abuse to animals when income is piling in and all they do is get a slap on the wrist?
We must do something to give these animals a voice. The way we can help these animals
is by stop paying into animal entertainment industries, for example SeaWorld.
One of the most popular marine animal entertainment industries known as SeaWorld,
does not physically abuse their killer whales with force, but they abuse the orcas in several
different ways. Tim Zimmermann inspired the documentary Blackfish with his article about
SeaWorlds abuse towards the whales they imprison. Zimmerman talks about how SeaWorld
obtained many of their orcas by taking them from their mothers in the wild, often times killing
the mothers in the process. He explains how SeaWorld keeps their killer whales in too small of
enclosures for the orcas to live a stainable life. Also how they do not live as long in captivity, due
to depression, and being attacked by other dominate whales in captivity. Lastly, and very
importantly SeaWorld is dangerous for both trainers and employees. Orcas in captivity are

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known to snap for no apparent reason and kill or seriously injure. Several trainers and employees
have died throughout the years, but SeaWorld continues to allow the whales to interact and
participate in shows (Zimmermann).
Imagine yourself watching one of the killer whale shows at SeaWorld when you see a
trainer get taken under by an orca. Seriously injured or even killed, both have happened with
hundreds of families watching.
It has happened several times, and will continue to happen. We cannot blame the killer
whales because we as human imprisoned them for our own personal entertainment reasons.
Leading to the orcas essentially losing their minds and becoming unstable, resulting in them
snapping and causing harm to humans around them and or themselves. Can we blame them
though? We are responsible for removing them from their families and natural environments.
When we think about whales we often think about the common house hold name; Shamu.
In 1965 Shamu was captured, alongside 15 other whales in the Carr inlet, near Tacoma
(Zimmermann 6). In the process of trying to capture the orcas a few got killed. A man by the
name of Don Goldsberry was responsible for the capture of Shamu and the other 15 whales. This
was the beginning of Goldsberry career. He continues capturing whales for marine parks all over
the world, including SeaWorld. Laws were put into place, but similar to Feld Entertainment,
SeaWorld did not follow them.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act was put into place to protect animals the same way
The Animal Welfare Act and The Endangered Species Act was. The Marine Mammal Protection
Act of 1972 prohibited the taking of marine mammals in the U.S waters, but SeaWorld continued
to receive killer whale capture permits under an educational-display exclusion (Zimmermann

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6). Yet again we find another exception to the law, similar to The Endangered Species Act. These
exceptions contradict the law its self, defeating the purpose behind the law. Which results in
essentially no protection for marine life. On top of enforcing these laws we need to make
changes to the exclusions and exceptions in the laws that contradict the main purpose.
The Education-display exclusion has resulted in mass amounts of killer whales being
taken from their natural habitats and mothers for the wrong reasons. Goldsberry was SeaWorlds
main capture, out of 300 killer whales captured off the Pacific Northwest for marine parks
around the world, Goldsberry caught 252 of them. While killing 9 killer whales in the process;
mostly mothers. (Zimmermann 6). After SeaWorld and Goldsberry got caught for abusing their
rights they were kicked out of their original orca hunting grounds.
Goldsberry was off to find a new location to capture killer Whales. He searched around
the world until he decided on Iceland as his new hunting grounds. By October 1976, SeaWorld
had its first Icelandic Orca (Zimmermann 7). Once SeaWorld go caught for abusing their rights
of taking Killer Whales under the Education-display exclusion, why were they allowed to go
elsewhere? Unfortunately because of the lack of enforcement of the law. It seems to have
become a pattern for animal protection laws. Killer whales are one of the largest mammals in
sea, yet we keep them holding tanks smaller than some pools (Zimmermann 7).
Often time Killer Whale enclosures would hardly let the mammal swim in circles. At the
age of 3 and freshly taken from his mother, Tilikum was transported to Sea Land. TIlikum had a
small area to move around in, Sea Land had a performance pool of about 100 feet by 50 feet,
and 35 feet deep. It was created by mesh netting from floating docks in the marina (Zimmerman
7). Considering the enclosure was located in the marina, it was contaminated by boats and other
pollution. Thankfully for Tilikum he never got sick, but In the 14 years before Tilikums arrival,

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seven orcas had died under Sea Lands care (Zimmermann 8). The dimensions of the tank was
not just for Tilikum, it was for two other female Killer whales to share as well.
Take a second to think about a Killer Whale and how it is one of the biggest mammals in
the ocean. Now think about three of them in 100 feet by 50 feet enclosure, while in the wild
Killer Whales travel in pods of up to 50 Orcas, they travel up 75 miles a day following salmon,
and living up to 80 years old (Zimmermann 12). We keep them in such small enclosures where
they can hardly circle around and where they are living only 3 and 4 years. Whales are unlike
most mammals, In Orca society females are dominate (Zimmermann 8). Therefore, Tilikum
was beaten and attacked by the other two females who were fighting for the same limited space
they had. After being beaten all night Tilikum would have to perform 8 times a day, every hour
on the hour, with scrapes and gashes on this skin from the previous night (Zimmermann 9). This
is breaking both the Animal welfare Act and Endangered Species Act. Without surprise once
again no one is regulating or enforcing the laws in the case of Tilikum at Sea Land. When you
keep such a large animal in a small enclosure they are bound to snap. The Orcas at Sea Land
were often bored.
They would look for things to take their energy out on. Therefore, When something
would fall in the water, the Orcas would play keep away from the trainers (Zimmermann 9).
Bruce Stephens, a former SeaWorld trainer explained to trainers, If you fail to provide your
animals with the excitement they need, you may be certain they will create the excitement
themselves (Zimmermann 9). That is exactly what happened when a trainer fell into the tank
one afternoon at Sea Land, one of the three orcas pulled her under, no one could tell which one
of three, but they were involved in the drowning of 20 year old Keltie Byrne (Zimmermann 10).

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This was the first killing that had ever occurred in a marine park. Leading to SeaLand needing
safety improvements.
When SeaLand could not make the improvements they called SeaWorld to take the three
orcas off their hands. SeaWorld did not care that they were involved in a deadly accident because
Tilikum could be used as a sperm donner. They discovered while transporting them that Tilikum
had already impregnated the two females he was in captivity with (Zimmermann 15). SeaWorld
would be receiving a goldmine. A Sperm donner and potentially 2 baby orcas had money written
all over it for SeaWorld. SeaWorld dismissed the danger of Tilikum, and his involvement in the
death of a trainer, and approved him for show training.
The SeaWorld trainers reported not being informed of Tilikums involvement in the
SeaLands death. Until his involvement in another death.
Tilikum was seen swimming around with a body in his mouth one morning through the
looking tank below. The victim was a recently released Prisoner of the Indian River Country
Jail, snuck into SeaWorld after hours. He jumped into the Orca tank. The coroner determined the
cause of death to be drowning (Zimmermann 22). Although the ignorance of this man killed
himself, Tilikum had yet to kill again. Tilikum was still allowed to work one on one with trainers
in shows.
Tilikum killed again.
Dawn Brancheau was a well-known famous SeaWorld trainer. Brancheau was the poster girl for
the marine park in Orlando, Florida (Zimmerman 1). On February 24, 2010 the 40 year old
trainer lost her life. Tilikum pulled Brancheau under during a relationship session, ignoring

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all commands to leave her alone her continued to pull her farther down (Zimmermann 2-3).
This was Tilikums third time being involved in a death related incident.
Tilikum is being blamed and punished for the killings her was involved in, but why?
Everyone ignored the previous signs and accidents. They continued to send Tilikum out to make
their industries money. After the death of Branceau SeaWorld decided they werent taking any
chances by isolating him form all interaction (Zimmermann 26). Tilikum is now 30 years old,
being the only male in captivity still alive (Zimmermann 27). These massive animals need
constant stimulation and now Tilikum is receiving zero all due to the fact he was never receiving
enough. According to Paul Spong, director of OrcaLab explained, If you pen killer Whales in a
small tank, you are imposing an extreme level of sensory deprivation on them. Humans who are
subjected to the same conditions become mentally disturbed (Zimmermann 11). If we locked a
humane in a small room for 30 years with other humans who were out to get them, without
family, interaction, and constantly worrying of your safety; what would happen? You would lose
your mind like Spong suggested, and that is exactly what has happened to Tilikum over the last
30 years. Thankfully for Tilikum and other entertainment animals changes are starting to occur
In the wake of modern technology and social media it is easier to get more and more
information out to the publics eye. Additionally activist groups such as People of the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA) have helped spread the word (Goodale 2). According to the
Gallups values and beliefs survey in 2008, 25 percent of Americans say animals deserve the
same rights as humans, while almost all of the rest agree that animals should be given some
protection from harm and exploitation (Goodale 3). The vast majority of American population
agree something needs to be done.

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Fortunately, things are starting to improve. Ringling Brothers owned by Feld

Entertainment has decided to retire 18 circus elephants, instead of paying the money to contest
local bans. In addition SeaWorld has announced that they will be doubling the tank size
(Goodale 2). Although this is not the end to animal entertainment industries something is being
done. This shows us the bringing the issues to the publics eye is working and we need to
continue on stronger to keep the fight up.
The goal is to decrease attendance by educating each individual on why you should stop paying
in to these industries.
The Famous documentary Blackfish based on Zimmermanns article has sparked a
decrease in attendance for SeaWorld. Since the release of the film, the company saw a 6 percent
decline in 2014 as well as falling attendance and stock prices. They plan to launch a
reputational campaign to promote their changes to tank sizes and change attitudes towards the
park and its treatment of animals (Goodale 3). Regardless if they are making changes to the
tank size or retiring elephants, the facts are still there. No matter how hard they try to change the
publics mind and convince us they are changing, we must remember that what we are doing is
working. Attendance is decreasing, changes are being made, but we must continue fighting if we
want to see the end of animal entertainment industries. We must continue fighting the industries
stronger than ever to give these animals a voice they deserve.

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Works Cited
Beverage, Emily E. "Abuse Under the Big Top: Seeking Legal Protection For Circus Elephants
After ASPCA V. Ringling Brothers." Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology
Law 13.1 (2010): 155-184. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Gloria Goodale Staff, writer. "From Ringling Bros. to Sea World, Americans stand up for
animals." Christian Science Monitor 12 Mar. 2015: N.PAG. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
Nelson, Deborah. "The Cruelest Show on Earth." Mother Jones 36.6 (2011): 48-57. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
Zimmermann, Tim. "The Killer in the Pool." Outside Online. Outside Magazine, 30 July 2010.
Web. 21 Oct. 2015.