It is cruel and vicious to use animals as a tool for entertainment. Thus, circuses should be animal-free.

In the past, animals have been featured in different circuses across the world. People often treated the animals poorly and heartlessly by abandoning and caging them. When a circus could not continue to provide a place for these animals or was forced to shut down, the animals became unnecessary and were abandoned.

Due to a surplus of entertaining animals, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria estimated that their members have to kill between three and five thousand animals a year.  

Animals deserve better. Elephants, tigers, and other wild animals were born to be free in the wild. But nowadays, these animals are being held for entertainment and are suffering in brutal conditions. They have to go through many practices for the shows, and they receive punishments if they don’t do things right. For example, in some circuses, tigers are forced to jump through fire hoops. Some get burned, but if they don’t do it the trainers will use whips on them.

Not only do they have to practice and perform in such tense circumstances, but they also have to endure terrible living conditions. In some particularly ruthless circuses, the animals don’t have enough food to eat or space to live. Animals need room for their natural behaviors. It is also heartless to use these animals as traveling entertainers since the circuses cannot promise to give the animals the exact conditions that they need without spending large amounts of money. 

These creatures are stolen from their rightful way of life. While living in these circuses, the animals lose their instincts for living in the wild. 

Luckily, there are many nations and circuses that are trying to limit the use of animals. According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), there are already 27 countries that have banned wild-animals circus. The Cirque du Soleil has proven that audiences will still flock to see acrobats, trapeze artists and tightrope walkers without any animal acts.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey made the right decision in phasing out all elephant acts by 2018 because this not only helped return the elephants back to their wild environment but also allowed the company to eliminate the pricey cost of maintain the elephants.

Fighting for animals’ freedom is important since there are too many animal species going extinct. As humans, we need to work to preserve a natural balance. We should protect what is left of nature rather than continue destroying it. 

Therefore, I believe we should work together in order to abolish the use of animals for human entertainment. I strongly suggest that using animals for entertainment should be considered a crime. We can contribute to the cause through small gestures, simply like avoiding buying tickets to animal circuses. Losing this profit will stop them from continuing the use of animals.