The Ringling Brothers circus has quite a history of animal abuse. Today, they continue to use bullhooks, a long stick with a sharp tip and hook on the end, to train and control elephants in the show. Elephants are not given a gentle poke with the instrument; they are beaten, stabbed, scraped, and jabbed. The consequences of this instrument can be easily found. An elephant’s skin appears to be thick, but it is actually quite delicate. The skin can tear easily, and bullhooks have the ability to leave deep and severe wounds. Infections and scars are common. Sometimes, bleeding is so severe that fatal blood loss becomes possible. In these cases, trainers must stop the bleeding with a special powder to induce clotting. Besides being used for a painful punishment, bullhooks are frequently used to threaten and scare elephants into performing, keeping them going well past the point of exhaustion. The use of bullhooks is a torturous way to train animals and must be stopped. forcechange/65453/tell-circus-to-stop-using-harmful-bullhooks-on-elephants/#gf_15
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 17:45:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015