Human Crimes Against Wildlife (Inhumanity) 5 - Dancing Bears

As many of you are aware, the eight species of bears have snuck their way into my heart and have made me love them so, so very much. I adore them and the way we treat these beautiful and majestic creatures is absolutely disgusting.

What also disgusts me is the fact that, ALREADY, six of these beautiful species are already threatened with extinction. That is 75% of our bear species that could simply dissappear due to our own stupidity and ignorance.

I can't imagine Earth without our bears and my question is: would this world be worth living in without species like the Asiatic Moon Bear, the Sloth Bear, the Grizzly Bear, or the Polar Bear? Honestly, I don't think it would be and I think I'd lose all faith in humanity if we continue to fail to protect them.

Have you ever seen a black bear in it's natural habitat? I have been lucky enough to experience this and seeing this natural display of behavior is something I will cherish for the rest of my life.

If you have ever seen a polar bear, in a zoo or on television, you cannot deny their power and their absolute beauty. This is the case for so many of us and yet we subject bears to such torture.

These days, it doesn't even stop at torture. Bears are under such threat and so much pressure for numbers of reasons that go beyond bear bile farming, bear baiting, and dancing bears. Bears are poached illegally throughout the world for trophies and body parts. Whether it be their reproductive parts used for aphrodisiacs or for their bones, teeth, and claws which are used to ward off evil spirits, the bottom line is: it's effin' wrong.

As if bear baiting and bear bile farming are not enough, bear dancing just adds onto it.

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12. Dancing Bears - as an issue remotely in India, Pakistan, SriLanka, and Bangladesh, bear dancing takes the cake. Such stoic animals, it is no wonder why bears are continuously subjected to such harm and inhumanity.

Imagine it.

You're a young sloth or black bear (or a cub). You lived a lovely natural life in the wild, until one day, you were renched from your mother or the natural habitat you had just begun to call home. You have just been poached from the wild and nine-times-out-of-ten, your poacher killed your mother.

As a baby or young one, you have no idea what's going on, but the next thing you know, your claws are being ripped out; your teeth are being broken and destroyed by a hammer. This is all to make you easier to handle. Along with this, a hot rod has been shoved up your nose, searing a hole through the top of your snout. Later, a rope will be threaded through this hole. This is the rope that will force you to dance.

Your handler will raise this rope above your head, forcing you to stand up and bend to his will just to escape the pain. This is what they call dancing. Your handler may also train you a different way- a horrible way. The Roma (gypsies) training method will involve greasing your paws and having you stand on hot plates while music plates. You will hop on the plate to avoid the pain and your handler will interpret this as dancing. Eventually, you'll associate the music with the pain and dance repetitively anytime music is played.

Now that you've imagined this, can you call it 'entertainment'. It is not entertainment, it is cruelty. Some say this is tradition, but I call bullshit! Cruelty is cruelty no matter where it occurs. Most human beings have essentially the same sense of right and wrong, but somehow monetary gain has blurred the line. How people can sit and watch this act is astonishing and absurd at all the same time.

Which would you rather see?

A happy, shy, but curious bear in its natural home...
or...
a bear at the end of a rope forced to withstand amassed cruelty?

My answer is simple and yours should be too.

Many of you have probably never even heard of a sloth bear. Sloth bears live on the Indian subcontinent, where their habitat has been lost, degraded, and fragmented due to over-harvest of forest products such as timber, fuel, fodder, fruits, and honey. As well, the establishment of monoculter plantations are taking over habitat. Other threats include the settlement of refugees, expansion of agricultural areas, human settlement, and the implimentation of roads. Sloth bears are incredibly threatened due to habitat loss and yet, this isn't enough for the bears to be put through. We have to make everything worse, because that's what humans do: make things worse. Instead of letting sloth bears enjoy the little habitat they have left, we force them to do things so unnatural to them just for our entertainment.

In 2007, it was believed that anywhere from 500 to 2,000 sloth bears were kept in captivity to use as performers. This is a large number when compared to the mere 8,000 that live in the wild. What makes this so sad is that a sloth bear can live up to 20 years in the wild, but once they are captured for this purpose, their life span is cut in over half. Dancing bears hardly ever live to be older than 7 or 8 years of age.

I'm sure many think this is a secluded problem, but its not. Unfortunately, this is an international problem. Until recently, bears were used throughout Europe for this form of entertainment. It is believed that Bulgaria was the last country in Europe to use dancing bears. The spread throughout Europe was due, in large, to the travel of nomadic tribes and gypsies. The last three dancing bears (that we know of) in Bulgaria were surrendered to a sanctuary in June 2007. This was not the end though. There have been several incidents reported in Spain in 2007, despite the European law banning the trade.

Luckily, it is believed that bear dancing will have been completely eradicated by December of this year and that the last remaining dancing bears will finally be released from their pain and into the proper care of a sanctuary. For the sake of humanity and our place as the "healers" of this planet, I hope this becomes reality. It'll definitely lift my heart and convince me that there is still hope for the human race.

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I honestly believe money has tainted this world and is predominantly responsible for its destruction. Money and the people who seek it with no moral obligation as human beings are the cause of the dancing bear trade. And, for my own sanity, I hope they all burn in hell.

What also shocks me is the state these bears are kept in. These bears symbolize dollar signs for their handlers and yet they cannot be bothered to even care for the animals. The bears are kept in poor, small, and filthy conditions and they are deprived of food and water.

Why?

The handlers are looking for sympathy. They believe by keeping the bear in poor condition, you will feel obligated to give them money, feeling as if you are doing something to help the animal. This is not the case in any way, shape, or form. It is all about the handlers gain and that is what your money goes to. You don't help the bear, you help the handler in continuing his trade.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! Do not ever support animal shows of any kind! Do not give them your money! Report them so they can be dealt with and cannot continue to torture animals!

BEARS ARE NOT ITEM NUMBERS!!!

Thanks for reading,
Ashley

People Are So Full Of It. Tyson Chicken.

So, this past weekend I went on a Marine Biology trip with my college to Wallops Island, Virginia. It was a great trip in the educational aspect, but in the political and dramatic sense, it sucked. I go to a women's college and let's just say that's not by choice. I generally don't get along well with girls (notice I say girls, because so many lack maturity in various levels) and going on a trip with 21 of them basically sucked the life out of me. I mean, don't get me wrong, not everyone was bad. There were just a few that got on my nerves.

Okay, so let me get down to it. I'll be changing the names of said nerve-sticking girls in order to avoid "incrimination" or whatever.

So, I'm an outright, open vegetarian. Albeit, I am new to this whole vegetarian thing, but my reasons for being a vegetarian run very, very deep. As a person who is incredibly concerned with animal welfare, humane treatment, and conservation, I cannot allow myself to be a hypocrit and eat animals. I just can't. I wouldn't eat my best friend, Klause (my German Shepherd), so I won't eat any animal. Sounds simple right? I mean, how can I judge China for the way they treat their dogs and cats farmed for food when we do the same exact stuff (maybe not the same acts, but the same level of cruelty) to cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, turkeys, and over livestock? How could I judge them? I couldn't, because I would be a hypocrit then. However, since I neither support dog/cat farming or cow/chicken/pig/etc farming, I'm entitled to dislike many animal farming practices.

The first thing I gave up when I decided to lead a veggie-life was chicken and eggs. The inhumane treatment of these birds is so incredibly disgusting to me and I feel it may be the worst treatment of all farmed animals in the U.S.

So, on Wallop's Island, there is a Tyson Meat Chicken Farm. We (the class) we're in our van passing it on the last day of the trip and this girl, we'll call her "Chicken Girl", was sitting next to me. I've taken many classes with Chicken Girl throughout my years at Wilson College and we've always been friendly with one another. She is a Wolf enthusiast and I greatly support that mentality, considering my deep love for large carnivorous mammals. So, we've always gotten along until about a week before the Marine Bio trip when we got into a tiny dispute (nothing bad, we got over it by the next class). I am a follower and supporter of both PETA and HSUS. When she discovered this information, Chicken Girl turned her nose up and asked, "You don't really go with them, do you?". I, of course, said "Yeah.". I was suprised to hear the distate in her question considering PETA and HSUS are two of the biggest oppositions against the fur-trade that takes so many canid lives. After I answered her, Chicken Girl proceeded to comment, "You do realize PETA kills more animals than they save and HSUS only cares about the money they pocket..." I actually laughed. I mean, could she be more rediculous. That rumor has long been proven wrong. All animal-welfare groups are faced with intense ammounts of animal death due to the state many animals are found in. Also, adoptees are not always easy to find and, like in any Humane Society, many animals are euthanized. This is the unfortunate side of a humanity job and there is absolutely no reason people in or in support of PETA or HSUS should be blamed for that. I explained this to Chicken Girl and then we dropped the subject when class started.

Chicken Girl gets this name because she is blatantly outright about her love for chickens. She often mentions the 13 chickens she has cared for and raised. So, again I was shocked by her actions during the trip.

As we drove past the Tyson Chicken Farm, she asked what I guess was a hypathetical question, "I wonder if they keep the chickens in open pens or cages?"... Under my breath, I said "Cages.", because I knew even though they may be kept temporarily in a pen, they always end up in a tightly packed cage which leads to their slaughter. Chicken Girl wigs out, looking at me and says, "How do you know?!" and my response is a simple one: "It's a meat farm!".

So, ignorance is bliss, and Chicken Girl says, "You're just going to assume based on the outside?! They could be egg-layers or meat birds! You don't know!"...

Okay, seriously. How effin' retarded are you? Tyson does NOT process eggs or egg-laying birds. It is a meat industry! They make those chicken nuggets, patties, and strips that millions of Americans ingest daily. These Tyson factories supply for chains like KFC which does not involve eggs!

To avoid more drama, I don't say this to Chicken Girl. Instead I just stifle the argument and say, "Save it. Spare me." I look out the window, she crosses her arms and looks away. I'm sitting there thinking, "Whatever, she's not worth it and I don't have to explain this shit to her."

So, needless to say, Chicken Girl is not a vegetarian and is an outright meat-eating hypocrit.

After this, I thought the conversation was over. Then the other girls started talking about road kill and the various animals they've accidentally hit. Chicken Girl covers her mouth and winces, saying, "Can we not talk about road kill, I can't handle it."

The other girls ignore this and go on with their conversation, while I sit there thinking, "What a fucking hypocrit?" I don't say anything, until she asks again. That's when I lost it!

I was like, "Are you kidding me? You can't handle road kill but you're okay with the amassed chicken slaughter that goes on in chicken factories around the globe?"

She wigs out again and asks, "What's your problem?!"

My answer: "You're full of shit. I'm saying that you can't stand road kill but chicken slaughter is okay with you? Even though you consider them pets?"

Her answer: "No, I'm not okay with it. I hate it, but you still don't know what goes on in that factory."

I'm completely baffled and I just blurt out, "Yeah, I do. Chickens fuckin' die there! They are murdered in that factory so that you can eat a chicken strip."

Chicken Girl doesn't respond, but her friend (we'll call her "Animal Hunter Girl") turns away from her original conversation and says the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. Animal Hunter Girl says, "Animals die in the wild, but you don't propell against the wild!"...

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Are you effin' kidding me?! IT'S THE WILD! That's how animals are supposed to be! They're not supposed to be factory farmed for our consumption!! They're supposed to be hunted by their NATURAL predators in their NATURAL food chain! That's why I don't "propel" against the wild. Not only does it not make sense, but the wild does not treat it's inhabitants with such disrespect and inhumane treatment!

It's so stupid. I mean, Chicken Girl is clearly a gigantic hypocrit! She considers her chickens to be pets and for sure, would not eat them. She hates the amassed chicken slaughter, but still eats them! I mean, what the hell? Could she be more full of crap?

If you're going to stand for something, stand for it! Don't frickin' flip flop. If you're going to support chicken slaughter, support all chicken slaughter including your own.

So, now that that is said and done. I tell you all everything I wanted to tell her, but didn't to avoid drama.

Tyson factories throughout the world don't just have inhumane treatment problems, they have many others. They have been fined many times for illegal dumpage of pollutants (chicken feces) and for their extreme fumes that polute the air and water. Discharge of ammonia has become a very controversial subject for Tyson. Tyson has also been documented for hiring illegal immigrants to lower labor costs. This qualifies as a human right's issue.

As for the animal issues, Tyson has been investigated multiple times for inhumane treatment and slaughtering methods. 100,000 chickens die everyday in large Tyson factories. How do they die?

• throat cutting machines that may not always kill right away due to malposition
• if the chickens miss the throat cutting machines, workers are then instructed to rip their heads off
• chickens who don't die automatically from the throat cutting machines are then sent through the feather removal tank where they are scalded alive
• canibalization by other birds
• starvation due to lack of space to move or inability to move when too overgrown or heavy in weight
• workers will even toss arround dead birds just for fun

How the hell is this humane? These poor birds only live for two months in poor quality confinement. They are surrounded by their own feces, which is only cleaned out once every 18 months. A typical Tyson factory farm hold 24,000 or more chickens. Each bird is only granted 0.7 square feet of floor space, which isn't even big enough for their bodies. They are packed in like sardines. The crowding makes it impossible to move and that lack of movement encourages growth and weight gain.

These chickens are bred to grow quickly, specifically in the breast area to provide more expensive cuts of meat. Their breast muscles may become too large and heavy to hold themselves up and walk. This ultimately leads to starvation. Five times a day, workers must walk the enclosures to check for dead birds that would be canibalized if left behind.

Many of the chickens on these factory farms have inflamed patches of skin from sitting in their own and their neighbor's feces. These raw patches attract pecking from other birds.

Imagine this kind of life. Unable to move. Unable to eat. Constantly covered in feces. Pecked at by other birds. Covered in raw patchy skin that cannot heal due to their treatment. Living only two months and then having their necks sliced, being boiled alive, having their heads ripped off, or starving.

How could anyone support that?! And consider their own chickens exhempt from the rule. Or consider road kill worse that the horrible chicken slaughter in our country?

Chicken Girl, you are so full of shit. I can smell you from here. Take your hypocrisy elsewhere. I wish you could experience what those birds experience. I wish you could face that throat cutting machine. Let's see what you have to say then, because right now, you're nothing but a moron.

And the funniest thing is you never thought someone would call you out on it? I mean come on, you picked the wrong one to start with. Ignorance and hypocrisy must be bliss for you. At least, then you can pretend to be okay with yourself.

I hate hypocrits...

Thanks for reading,

Ashley