Horrific training techniques ensure the animals are submissive enough to perform tricks, spend their long lives chained, and continuously give rides to paying tourists.
Separated from families
Animals abused in the entertainment industry are often separated from their families. Many dolphins living in marine parks around the world were captured from the wild and separated from their pods. Others have been bred in captivity and sold or “loaned” to different marine parks to breed more animals for the industry.
Tiger and lion cubs are taken from their mothers (sometimes at just a month old) and are constantly chained or left in small, barren cages for tourists to handle and hug for selfies. Some big cat facilities drug the animals when they get older so tourists can snap the perfect selfie. When captive-bred lions grow too old for tourists to hug and hold but are still young, the animals are sometimes viciously retrained for “walk with lions” experiences. When they become unmanageable, they are abandoned or discarded at roadside zoos.
Elephants in the entertainment industry are taken from their mothers, beaten, and endure ongoing physical and psychological abuse during training when they’re young. Our Taken For A Ride study noted that captive elephants are primarily taken from the wild, although in some countries—including the United States—they are bred in captivity.
Horrific training techniques ensure the animals are submissive enough to perform tricks, spend their long lives chained, and continuously give rides to paying tourists. Bullhooks (sharp training tools used to hit or stab elephants) remind the elephants of their abusive training and human dominance.
