Laws, more laws, but nothing helps. 1,400 whales die every year, even though whaling is banned. 25,000 Whales have been killed for commercial purposes since 1986. People know a lot of animals die all the time to supply us food, but does anyone really know the exact numbers? Nine billion chickens are raised and killed every year for meat in the United States, just for the United States. One billion animals are killed for the leather industries. One hundred million animals also die for experimenting. Finally, three to four million cats and dogs, in good shape, are euthanized each year. The world is a vile, hazardous, selfish place. I have facts and personal opinions that could hopefully shape your thoughts on this issue.

Those were your basic animal cruelty facts. But what about the other types, the types no one looks closely enough to actually see? Places like Sea World, Circuses, and other places that have animals performing are also animal cruelty through my eyes. How would you feel if you were trapped in a tank, cage, or small area for basically your whole life? What do you think happens to the whales and other animals that are born in tanks at Sea World? They’re raised there. They never get to swim in the fresh ocean waters, explore the world and meet other whales; they just train and perform until they die. What kind of life is that?

On the awful day of February 24th, 2011 Tilikum (also known as Shamu) attacked Dawn Brancheau at “Dine with Shamu” at Sea World. Tilikum has also been reported for two other deaths at Sea World in the past as well, in 1999 and 1991. I feel like that’s enough signals to let them know to set him free. It’s known that Orcas actually attack more often in captivity than they do in the wild. There are only a few known attacks recorded of Orca attacks in the wild. There are many attacks recorded of Orcas attacking and killing trainers and other people in captivity. They’re trying to communicate, and people just don’t read between the lines. All they do is check out the poor animal and say they ate something bad, or they have a cold or some other illness so that’s why they acted out. Honestly, they are supposed to be a trainer, which means they should understand these majestic, beautiful, magnificent creatures of nature.

Circuses are another form of Animal Cruelty. It’s known that tigers fear fire and they make tigers jump through burning hoops, and they sometimes get burned. There are pictures of tigers licking a trainers’ face, which is pretty risky. When they train animals, sometimes they have to use whips, tight collars, and electric prods and other tools. They use an ankus (a wooden stick, with a sharp pointed hook at the end) to poke at an elephants mouth, feet, behind the ears and other sensitive places when they’re not cooperating. Poking, prodding, violence, whipping, fire, tricks, flips, violence, and more violence; animals have feelings to, and just because we can’t understand them doesn’t mean we can ignore that.

Currently in the world, there are forty-one Orcas in captivity across the globe. Out of the forty-one in captivity, thirteen of them started their lives in the wild. Orcas actually have shorter lives in captivity than they do in the wild. A famous known Orca is Keiko, the Orca that was used to play Willy in the hit 1993 movie Free Willy. He sadly passed December 12, 2003 in Norway from what people say was pneumonia. He was born in 1976 and was captured in Iceland three years later in 1979. He was released into the wild sometime in 1998. Through my research, he seems like the only whale ever recorded to be let back into the ocean. If they had let Keiko free, why can’t they let the others go? Just because he was famous, doesn’t mean the others can’t have special treatment as well.

The ocean is a deep body of water with thousands of different shades of blue. A tank is a limited are of space, where an animal could get insanely bored after about ten minutes. Which would you rather live in, if you were a sea animal? Would you rather have a life of performing tricks and being a source of entertainment for people, or a life where you can be free and live? Animals in the circus would much rather live their lives in their natural habitat, not in a cage. They probably want to explore the world like a lot of us do.

A fresh ocean breeze mixed with salt water and the sounds of waves crashing against one other, folding, overlapping, and breaking apart. The sounds of trees rustling, animals lurking in tall, grassy planes, the calls of hundreds of different animals soaring through the air; that’s the kind of setting animals want. They don’t want to spend all of or half of their lives in rusty old steel cages or tanks with large glass windows where little children bang and yell through the thick glass as they try to get an animals attention. A difference is possible, even the tiniest amount of effort can make a large impact on people. There are websites and places you can visit for information, anything to stop animal cruelty. Even the kinds no one seems to notice. Many people out there in the world really hope this changes your view on the other forms.