Utahns of faith should unite against Jordan World Circus’s animal cruelty
By Daniel Paden
We live in divisive times, when sometimes even having a civil conversation feels fraught. But one thing nearly everyone can agree upon is that animal cruelty should be condemned. With the Jordan World Circus heading to town, it’s a perfect time to show God’s mercy and compassion to those of His animals exploited in the circus. Utah’s deep-rooted culture of family unity, shared community values, and devotion to faith makes it uniquely suited to taking a stand against circus cruelty.
As evidence continues to come out about how terribly animals suffer in the circus, more and more families are deciding to stay away. Ringling Bros. went out of business in 2016, citing the public’s changing attitude toward its use of animals as well as a decade of declining ticket sales. Numerous cities and states across the country are enacting bans on wild and exotic animal shows, and some circuses have dropped their animal acts and are successfully touring without them.
Yet the Jordan World Circus is still hauling caged and chained animals around the country and forcing them to perform tricks under the constant threat of punishment. It’s standard industry practice for circus trainers to whip tigers into submission and beat elephants with bullhooks — a weapon that resembles a fireplace poker with a sharp hook on one end — to force them to obey.
Carol, one of the elephants who has toured with the Jordan World Circus for years, is used for rides, even though she was involved in a tragic incident in which a trainer was crushed to death. In 2013, Carol was shot in the neck in an apparent drive-by shooting but was put back on the road within a year. Video footage shows Carol walking with an abnormal gait, which means that she’s likely aching and sore.
Patty — another elephant who has toured with the Jordan World Circus for years — has been seen confined to a small concrete pen swaying back and forth. Elephants who engage in this neurotic, obsessive behavior do so in a futile effort to cope with stress and deprivation.
Even though tigers are apex predators who roam over vast territories, the exhibitor who typically provides tigers for Jordan World Circus reportedly has a policy that big cats must be caged “at all times” while on the road, except during performances. That suggests that the animals aren’t given adequate exercise for the up to 11 months of the year during which they’re forced to travel and perform. Everything that gives their lives meaning is denied.
People from all walks of life, including those of faith, are taking a closer look at our relationship with those who share this planet. When we make choices, they can be ethical or exploitative. But the fundamental Christian tenets of extending kindness and compassion compel us to take a stand against animal-based circuses. Indeed, it should be our moral imperative.
Daniel Paden is the vice president of evidence analysis for the investigative division of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He works closely with PETA’s eyewitness investigators to document the conditions and treatment of animals in slaughterhouses, on factory farms, in circuses, in laboratories, and in the pet trade industry. His work led to the rescue of thousands of animals as well as the first-ever felony cruelty charges for the mistreatment of animals in a U.S. laboratory and the abuse of factory-farmed birds, among other landmark cases.
The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.
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Hey Christians, the Bible says you aren’t supposed to let yourselves be deceived. Christians teaming up with AR activists…. that’s light teaming up with darkness…. another no no according to God’s Word. If you are falling for this, research and find the truth…. and pray of course. 🙂
So you’re saying the Bible is PRO animal cruelty?
The author of this piece doesn’t understand or perhaps wants to understand how animals, especially the big cats, react to this sort of environment. I work with big cats, and I can tell you the most spoiled, best mannered cats I have ever worked with are show cats. Big cats– and all animals for that matter, are best (and maybe only) trained by taking advantage of natural behaviors. You can’t get an animal to do something unnatural, even by coercion. From a Biblical perspective, Genesis 1:28, only the 28th verse of the entire Bible, tells us to rule over all the animals. The animals were put here for us, not the other way around. I won’t go into all the other verses, but Genesis 2 -the second chapter of the entire Bible- establishes that we both rule over and have stewardship of the animals here. This is the basis of the concept of animal welfare, where animals should be treated humanely and with respect. But at the same time, the animals are here to be used–worked, eaten, as companions, etc. Using them in shows is entertaining, and it serves animal welfare in that show animals demand a tremendously high level of care and attention to continue to perform with long, happy lives. The stewardship part comes in, in seeing animals in shows, zoos, nature centers, etc. helps people see the fundamental value in animals, and the importance of being good stewards of them, themselves. Lastly, a relationship with an animal, bet it a pet, s show or working animal, or even one that will eventually be on your table, is a relationship that benefits both the animal and the person who cares for it. Working with animals teaches you love and will draw you closer to the heart of God than just about anything else.
One certainly can get an animal to do something unnatural via coercion; it’s called training. Does a cat “naturally” use a litterbox? How does beating an elephant with a bullhook equate to “stewardship” or treating them “humanely and with respect”? It’s like you didn’t even read the piece.
Training a cat to use a litterbox is training a natural behavior in a specified area. Good training involves positives for the animals being trained. Beating is not an effective form of training. Good trainers love their animals and don’t hurt them. The point is that peta and other AR groups twists the truth and tells lies to get unsuspecting and unknowlegable people to create an emotional response to further their agenda of no humans using animals for any reason. If Timmy next door is mean to his dog, does that mean you are mean to your dog and everyone else is mean to their dog too? Should no one have a dog because Timmy shouldn’t have a dog? Animal Rights groups use the bad apples as their proof that everyone is a bad apple, because in their eyes everyone who wants to have anything to do with animals other than staying away from them is a bad apple. Before you be their unwitting pawn, reasearch because maybe what you are really concerned about is actually animal welfare, not animal rights. If you are in fact actually concerned about animal welfare, if you believe in the AR agenda then yeah stand behind them. Just know who and what you are standing for.
Well, I agree with most of what you’ve said. “Good training involves positives for the animals being trained. Beating is not an effective form of training. Good trainers love their animals and don’t hurt them.” Agreed, therefore I would not attend this circus. I’m not particularly a fan of PETA myself, but that doesn’t seem relevant to the subject of this particular piece. This piece isn’t advocating for PETA in any way at all that I can tell — it doesn’t even mention PETA — and I don’t see how it “furthers their agenda,” whatever that agenda is … it’s merely pointing out what this particular circus has done to harm animals and that if religious people do think they should be treated with some degree of mercy, they should reconsider attending this circus. It sounds like you are implying that PETA is lying about this particular circus. If you claim that statements made in this piece are false, the onus is on you to provide evidence to readers that this is the case.
This is simply a sad form of ‘entertainment’ that belongs in the past. That’s why circuses are closing or going animal free, and most countries in the world have banned the practice. Virtually nobody thinks watching wild animals whose lives and families have been taken away from them – and who are confined to trucks, cages and chains for most of their lives do stupid tricks is ‘fun’ anymore, especially young people.
Woops that last part was supposed to say if you in fact are concerned about animal RIGHTS, if you believe in the AR agenda then stand behind them. Just know who and what you are standing for. By the way, I am thankful we live in a comparitively free country where we still have the ability to make choices and enjoy freedoms and I am thankful we are living in a time where we still have opportunities to live with and interact with animals…. maybe in the future we won’t. Thank you God for giving us animals to love and care for!!!