Post by dynastygal on Jul 18, 2009 17:34:22 GMT -5
This was a talk I had to give on my opinion on animals in sport. Feel free to use any information provided in it.
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Around the world, people laugh, cheer, and congratulate each other on their winnings in the latest exploited creature in the latest sport. In the Chinese animal Olympics, bears are forced to ride horses galloping around a ring, kangaroos are dressed up in boxing gear in order to box their human opponent, likewise for bears, too. And of course, these are only some of the things that occur in these so-called “Olympics”. Moving west, into Pakistan, where bears with their claws and teeth removed, are chained to wooden stumps, allowing for a pack of pit bull terriers to be unleashed upon them. Even though the WSPA’s efforts have mostly wiped out such a practice as bear baiting in Pakistan, it still occurs. Now we head to the Philippines, south-east of China. Here, cock-fighting is a popular sport, where roosters are bred specifically for high stamina and strength, and are then placed in a ring with another rooster of whom he will fight to the death.
Moving onto the Western civilisations. In the UK, specifically, the cruelty in sports such as horse racing and greyhound racing is often unseen…that is, unseen by those who aren’t willing to accept that it is not right to force an animal to do something you want it to do in order for a human to gain a form of pleasure or satisfaction. In the horse racing industry, around 15,000 foals are born every year. However, not everyone makes the cut. On average, only about 5,000 of these foals make it into the horse racing industry properly. So where are these other 10,000 horses to go? Well, most commonly, like race horses that have injured themselves during races, they go to the slaughterhouse – where they are slaughtered for their meat. This meat is mostly consumed by our pets via the pet food we buy them. However, some horses are exported to foreign countries where horse meat is a popular dish. In addition to this, when raced, the horses often endure the intense whipping against their rump with the crop that the rider carries. This is to make the horse go faster, however studies have shown that this is not the case and is more likely to slow the horse down. Around 375 race horses a year, alone, in the UK are said to have died, either on the race course itself, through injuries from training, or by the owners themselves as the horses may be considered commercially unviable.
Moving on to greyhound racing, a sport where greyhounds are muzzled, and let off to chase a fake lure – usually an artificial hare or rabbit – around a circuit until they reach the finish line. The actual care and welfare of the greyhounds, themselves is far from acceptable. And it often varies depending on the country. In the UK, the greyhounds are housed in kennels of private individuals. Again, this is kennels, not homes. Not homes where they receive love and attention from their owner, but dull, dreary kennels where they get little social interaction with humans. America is no better. In the United States, there is no animal welfare governing body that sees over the treatment and care of greyhounds so pretty much anything can happen. The usual care for greyhounds in the United States consists of keeping females on the upper level of two sets of crates, and males on the lower level while living at the racing track. Most of their time is spent in these crates. Dogs that are seen as unfit to race by their owners often get killed by the owners but luckily there have been charities set up such as the National Greyhound Trust which was set up by the National Greyhound Association in order to re-home retired greyhounds. However this only works for a percentage of the greyhounds that are unable to race. For both greyhound and horse racing, steroids and other performance enhancing drugs are also often given to the animal in order to gain a better chance of winning the race.
Now, these are not the only sports that use animals; other such sports include Bull Fighting in Spain, where the bull is antagonized using coloured spears thrust into certain parts of their body and taunting devices in order to make the bull run at the person holding a flag. Eventually the bull will be killed with so-called “graceful” sword thrusts. Sometimes, the bull will head into the cheering crowd, and of course people get injured. But then again, the bull is blamed for the behaviour and is shot on site. It is also appropriate to note that the bull is typically weakened for days before the actual bull-fighting event in order to give the bull less of a fighting chance. Similarly, rodeo includes bulls, but this time it involves someone riding a bull and also other animals are hurt in these rodeos. Rodeo involves such events as calf roping - which is the roping a calf around the neck and then making them run alongside the rider of a horse who is holding the other end of the rope. Often in calf-roping, the calf is fleeing up to speeds of 25 miles per hour, during this the calf may be upended, flipped, and slammed back down and then dragged along the ground. Other events included in rodeo are bull riding, and bareback bronc riding, with bronc meaning an untamed horse. Bulls and broncs are equipped with a “bucking rope” which is a rope or strap that is tightly cinched around the abdomen of the animal, and basically forces the animal to buck. Spurs on the heel of the rider often are used to make the animal buck more violently. Another event is steer wrestling, this is where participants grab a steer by his horns, and twist them until the animal is forced to fall to the ground. Before entering the arena, horses and bulls are often electrically prodded in order to antagonize them and make them put on a “wild” performance once entering the arena. Animals in rodeo events are often critically injured or killed during them.
And of course, there are other sports such as fox hunting where a fox is chased down by a pack of hounds and ripped apart by them. If the fox escapes down a hole, one of the huntsmen will shoot the fox whilst it is down the hole. Fox hunting was outlawed and pushed down to a limit of 1 or 2 hounds and 1 horse ridden by a hunter. However illegal hunts still continue and the law is not enforced. Also in the hunting for sports category is deer hunting, game hunting and fishing.
All of the mentioned sports are used by humans to make money or to provide entertainment to the masses. Make money and entertainment, that is, out of the exploitation, harming and killing of animals. Would you consider it ok to force a human to fight the other to the death? Force a human to be roped around the neck, and then dragged around an arena? Force a human to be chased down and killed by a pack of dogs or a shotgun? Force a human to do something that may be detrimental to his or her health both mentally and physically in order to make a profit? Now, I ask the question; why is it ok to force something upon an animal that we would not want forced upon ourselves?
Also, in sport both sides know they’re in the game, but with the so-called sports I mentioned, not only do the animals not know they are in the game, but the animals do not stand an equal or fair chance of winning, where as in true sport, both sides would have an equal chance of winning. So I leave you with this following quote:
Mark Twain once said: “Of all the creatures ever made he (that is man) is the most detestable…He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain.”
Thank you.
---
Around the world, people laugh, cheer, and congratulate each other on their winnings in the latest exploited creature in the latest sport. In the Chinese animal Olympics, bears are forced to ride horses galloping around a ring, kangaroos are dressed up in boxing gear in order to box their human opponent, likewise for bears, too. And of course, these are only some of the things that occur in these so-called “Olympics”. Moving west, into Pakistan, where bears with their claws and teeth removed, are chained to wooden stumps, allowing for a pack of pit bull terriers to be unleashed upon them. Even though the WSPA’s efforts have mostly wiped out such a practice as bear baiting in Pakistan, it still occurs. Now we head to the Philippines, south-east of China. Here, cock-fighting is a popular sport, where roosters are bred specifically for high stamina and strength, and are then placed in a ring with another rooster of whom he will fight to the death.
Moving onto the Western civilisations. In the UK, specifically, the cruelty in sports such as horse racing and greyhound racing is often unseen…that is, unseen by those who aren’t willing to accept that it is not right to force an animal to do something you want it to do in order for a human to gain a form of pleasure or satisfaction. In the horse racing industry, around 15,000 foals are born every year. However, not everyone makes the cut. On average, only about 5,000 of these foals make it into the horse racing industry properly. So where are these other 10,000 horses to go? Well, most commonly, like race horses that have injured themselves during races, they go to the slaughterhouse – where they are slaughtered for their meat. This meat is mostly consumed by our pets via the pet food we buy them. However, some horses are exported to foreign countries where horse meat is a popular dish. In addition to this, when raced, the horses often endure the intense whipping against their rump with the crop that the rider carries. This is to make the horse go faster, however studies have shown that this is not the case and is more likely to slow the horse down. Around 375 race horses a year, alone, in the UK are said to have died, either on the race course itself, through injuries from training, or by the owners themselves as the horses may be considered commercially unviable.
Moving on to greyhound racing, a sport where greyhounds are muzzled, and let off to chase a fake lure – usually an artificial hare or rabbit – around a circuit until they reach the finish line. The actual care and welfare of the greyhounds, themselves is far from acceptable. And it often varies depending on the country. In the UK, the greyhounds are housed in kennels of private individuals. Again, this is kennels, not homes. Not homes where they receive love and attention from their owner, but dull, dreary kennels where they get little social interaction with humans. America is no better. In the United States, there is no animal welfare governing body that sees over the treatment and care of greyhounds so pretty much anything can happen. The usual care for greyhounds in the United States consists of keeping females on the upper level of two sets of crates, and males on the lower level while living at the racing track. Most of their time is spent in these crates. Dogs that are seen as unfit to race by their owners often get killed by the owners but luckily there have been charities set up such as the National Greyhound Trust which was set up by the National Greyhound Association in order to re-home retired greyhounds. However this only works for a percentage of the greyhounds that are unable to race. For both greyhound and horse racing, steroids and other performance enhancing drugs are also often given to the animal in order to gain a better chance of winning the race.
Now, these are not the only sports that use animals; other such sports include Bull Fighting in Spain, where the bull is antagonized using coloured spears thrust into certain parts of their body and taunting devices in order to make the bull run at the person holding a flag. Eventually the bull will be killed with so-called “graceful” sword thrusts. Sometimes, the bull will head into the cheering crowd, and of course people get injured. But then again, the bull is blamed for the behaviour and is shot on site. It is also appropriate to note that the bull is typically weakened for days before the actual bull-fighting event in order to give the bull less of a fighting chance. Similarly, rodeo includes bulls, but this time it involves someone riding a bull and also other animals are hurt in these rodeos. Rodeo involves such events as calf roping - which is the roping a calf around the neck and then making them run alongside the rider of a horse who is holding the other end of the rope. Often in calf-roping, the calf is fleeing up to speeds of 25 miles per hour, during this the calf may be upended, flipped, and slammed back down and then dragged along the ground. Other events included in rodeo are bull riding, and bareback bronc riding, with bronc meaning an untamed horse. Bulls and broncs are equipped with a “bucking rope” which is a rope or strap that is tightly cinched around the abdomen of the animal, and basically forces the animal to buck. Spurs on the heel of the rider often are used to make the animal buck more violently. Another event is steer wrestling, this is where participants grab a steer by his horns, and twist them until the animal is forced to fall to the ground. Before entering the arena, horses and bulls are often electrically prodded in order to antagonize them and make them put on a “wild” performance once entering the arena. Animals in rodeo events are often critically injured or killed during them.
And of course, there are other sports such as fox hunting where a fox is chased down by a pack of hounds and ripped apart by them. If the fox escapes down a hole, one of the huntsmen will shoot the fox whilst it is down the hole. Fox hunting was outlawed and pushed down to a limit of 1 or 2 hounds and 1 horse ridden by a hunter. However illegal hunts still continue and the law is not enforced. Also in the hunting for sports category is deer hunting, game hunting and fishing.
All of the mentioned sports are used by humans to make money or to provide entertainment to the masses. Make money and entertainment, that is, out of the exploitation, harming and killing of animals. Would you consider it ok to force a human to fight the other to the death? Force a human to be roped around the neck, and then dragged around an arena? Force a human to be chased down and killed by a pack of dogs or a shotgun? Force a human to do something that may be detrimental to his or her health both mentally and physically in order to make a profit? Now, I ask the question; why is it ok to force something upon an animal that we would not want forced upon ourselves?
Also, in sport both sides know they’re in the game, but with the so-called sports I mentioned, not only do the animals not know they are in the game, but the animals do not stand an equal or fair chance of winning, where as in true sport, both sides would have an equal chance of winning. So I leave you with this following quote:
Mark Twain once said: “Of all the creatures ever made he (that is man) is the most detestable…He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain.”
Thank you.
