Time To Take Action Against Animal Abuse – English Essay
Animal abuses do exist in our society today, nevertheless, is it really true that elephants in circuses are being beaten to death? Everyday, we just take eating animal meat for granted, but what we didn’t
think about is where it’s from, what those animals have suffered either in wild or in circuses. A certain amount of animals have been abused by humans and not treated as they also have lives like humans. Indeed, it’s time we should pay attention to this kind of problem and take a look at what is going on there. This issue is problematic. Some people say elephants are too huge to be controlled easily, and they have to be treated that way. The second explanation is that if they end up being left in wild alone, they may be torn or eaten by other predators. So it is better off this way. The rest people just deny the messages of animals being abused. They said some magazines or websites only selectively pick some pictures out and spread rumors to the readers. This problem may begin becoming very serious too because if animal abusing is really the case, we got to reexamine our human nature. It should be categorized as an ethical problem. Since we have established our own civilization for a very long time, is it necessary that we damage it in this way? The following paragraph is something a website is trying to tell you.
“Shackles, bull hooks, loneliness, …all under the big top. Please say ‘no’ because the animals can’t” They are coming to you slowly, with tears flowing out of her eye. There is one elephant shouting “help” to you. Scrolling down, you will see a picture you would never wish to see. It’s a picture that shows an elephant being whipped in the face and gauged with metal hooks in her ear. She could barely open her eyes, with wrinkles in her face. If you open a brief video clip on the right of this site, what you can see is an elephant trumpeting in agony as the bullhook, with its sharp metal hook and spiked end, tears through her sensitive skin. You can also hear what the trainer said “Sink that hook into ’em. When you hear that screaming, then you know you got their attention”, and the title of that article is “Animals are not ours for entertainment”. On the lower right area of the webpage, you are able to see the video about elephant abused in other circuses. The pictures vividly display other elephants in circuses: some couldn’t even stand straight, some is bound with a red wire, and some pictures are a close shot of a swelling and red foot of the elephant. How many elephants demonstrate each of these qualities? On the left side of the page are all kinds of websites are they websites or links? that are related to animal abusing cruelty. There is another picture in the downside at the bottom? of the webpage where an elephant is kept chained by two feet, unable to take two steps in any direction. Although the website tries to show us elephants being abused in the circuses with selected pictures, there still are good aspects of keeping animals in circuses that we couldn’t see through this website.
Firstly, we have to admit the website does a good job in making the good images which are enlightening and shocking to its audiences. Here, I would pick two good combinations the author makes between images and sentences. Firstly, let us see the picture up on the top. The elephant in that picture is wearing the circus uniform, crying as if she is saying “I don’t like the circus. I want to go home.” In the meantime, you can see the words “Shackles, bull hooks, loneliness, …all under the big top. Please say ‘no’ because the animals can’t”. The other picture I want to point out is the one where the elephant can not open her eye. I bet you couldn’t help but connect this image with the picture of an aging old man. Indeed, they are giving you the same feeling. Especially when you see there is a cage right behind that elephant. Cruel, isn’t it? It’s time that we shout for them — “no more cages”. After reading the paragraph right below that picture, we ought to ask ourselves “should we abuse animals just because we think we are superior over them”?
Not only the images are good, the cameral technique could also impress us. Remember there is a picture in the bottom where you are only able to see the elephant’s foot and a dirty and firm chain? By this picture, we can imagine the scene where elephants don’t have freedom, ironically, which is equally important to every species living on this planet. Compared with chains, there may be more such similar tools in the circus used to torture animals as Shackles, bull hooks and whips. The shooting angle of the cameral gives us more room for imagination, which would be good for the purpose of reaching the intended rhetorical effect.
The author also puts some other website links on the front page which are helpful for us to understand and experience animal abuses comprehensively, especially that www.pcta.org website. We can simply go to that website by clicking it, where we can experience all kinds of other animal abusing (e.g. cattle, hens, pig, or dogs). Just because we could see other sorts of animal cruelty and that becomes so common in our heads, it becomes easier for the author to make his own point clear and persuade readers to believe him. Other than the website links, there are other video clips by which we could catch the live show of how the trainer Tim Frisco treats his animal. (Quote: “Sink that hook into ’em. When you hear that screaming, then you know you got their attention”)
We may understand the point the author wants to make in this website, but the majority of animals in circuses are being fed well and feeling pretty comfortable with their lives. I know a circus trainer before. He used to tell me in order to let animals perform well in a show, the trainers have to feed them well and make them happy. It’s like a natural reaction. Without delicious food or other stuff that is attractive, there is no way the animals would listen to your words, not mention to making money for you. Therefore, in my opinion, not all the animals are like what the website describes with those terrifying pictures.
Furthermore, in the real world, there are competitions between animals. If they end up in the wild, it may be more dangerous for them. Like what we learnt in high school biology course, they might fight for food, spouse, or living room. There are predators that eat meat too. Without protection from humans, they could be like torn or eaten with pieces and only bones left. It’s pretty frightening, isn’t it? So, in this case, I would like to believe it’s better off for them to be kept in the circus.