Animal circuses: Torture for the performers

We have all come back entertained from a circus at some point, but have we ever wondered if the animal performers were equally happy to entertain us (‘Social media trend report: End of the Dolphin Traveling Circus’, Gulf News, December 15)? From what I have gathered from the Gulf News report about the treatment of animals, especially dolphins, in Indonesia’s traveling circuses, made me rethink the whole concept of animal circuses as a means of entertainment.

Did you know that the trainers beat the water with a metal pole when the dolphins make a mistake or reward them with dead fish for tricks like carrying balls on their noses? Dolphins are acoustic animals, so even the loud cheering of the crowds and constant noise puts them in great pain and suffering. The six foot long bottlenose dolphin is then hauled from the tiny pool and loaded into an open-top, water-filled wooden boxes. They are then driven in pickup trucks hundreds of miles across rough roads or flown in planes to reach the next destination in Indonesia. The transportation is so stressful that many dolphins die due to stress and lack of proper care. The most horrific stunt is when the dolphins are forced to jump through burning hoops of fire. This could be the case in many other circuses across the world, also. How can the trainers not understand the pain of these beautiful creatures?

Any animal would eventually communicate their feelings of anger and unbearable suffering by attacking the trainer, as could have been the case in the recent mauling of a trainer by a lion in Alexandria, Egypt.

The mental, emotional and physical stress that these animals undergo in captivity largely explains their aggressive behaviour.

Cirque du Soleil is the largest theatrical producer in the world and it does not keep any performing animals. Let’s speak for the ones without a voice by encouraging these types of circuses. Long ago, countries across the world have abolished human slavery. It’s time we all stand for the abolishment of animal slavery of any kind. After all, animals were not meant to entertain us, but to live peacefully in co-existence with all of us.

- The reader is a student based in Sharjah.