Sunday, February 22, 2015

Letter to the Ed: Captivity inhumane to circus #cats

February 21, 2015 
As a conservation biologist and animal behaviorist with two years' experience rescuing big cats from roadside zoos and private exhibitions, I was very disappointed to see recent ads in Newsday promoting Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

In the wild, the average home-range for a tiger is 155 to 280 miles. In the circus, it is kept in a box where it can barely turn around.

According to the "five freedoms of animal welfare" developed in England in the 1960s, captive animals must have freedom from discomfort, distress, fear, injury and to behave normally. Training tigers through fear conditioning, as big cats in the circus are trained, and keeping them in small cages, violates these freedoms. Captivity is detrimental to the mental and physical welfare of big cats, and none should be forced to perform in the circus.

David Enden, Fort Salonga

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