Jade Alison Lim

Dr. Linda Haas

Writing 39C
18 May 2016
FOCUSING ON THE SOLUTION
As Peter Singer explained in the video, Living Ethically, Vegetarianism, Abortion and
Charles Darwin he emphasizes the idea of recognizing that the greatest similarity among
humans and animals is the feeling of suffering where he continues to explain that being able to
feel gives you the right to be treated fairly (8:20). Peter Singer goes into the concept idea from
Charles Darwin that people are conscious when others are feeling or going through a difficult
time. This shows that this is one that humans share with all animals; when people see others
suffering, they are considerate towards them and do something to help them, but if people know
that animals suffer and it comes out to benefit them, not everyone will make the stand of
stopping such action to be done unto them. The Animal Welfare Act is a federal law that states
During public exhibition, dangerous animals [elephants] must be under the direct control and
supervision of a knowledgeable and experience animal handler (2.131) As for the circuses in
this case, they may be controlled by animal handlers but not in a humane way and in their
performances, they are ridden by performers who are not as experienced.
The Endangered Species Act was passed by Congress in 1973 in order to protect and
recover species and ecosystems; species that are listed as threatened or endangered become
priority when protecting. As for the elephants, they are considered to be going extinct because of
the significantly decreasing population of both African and Asian elephants in the wild. The
Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an
international treaty which U.S. adopted in 1975, regulating the trade for all nations; it also
prohibits the trade of living or dead wildlife that derives from them such as instruments, jewelry

etc. CITES organized an International Elephants Film Festival where films of elephants are
highlighted in order to raise awareness through the use of media. This is one of the ways in order
to get the movement of raising awareness started because its understanding what elephants are
living through in the wild under the conditions that humans may or may not have been directly a
part of (CITES). This is important to implement in order for the majority of society to understand
the dangers of keeping elephants in captivity and how they can make a difference by not funding
these public attractions.
According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), circuses and zoos have been taken
towards public and legal offense due to the confinement of the animals and took actions in order
to dispose of the profits and publicity of the animals. The Ringling Brothers Circus tended on
implementing this law in May of 2016 instead of August 2018 in order to respect these laws that
have been created (ALDF). This shows that the national laws are effective towards the actions
that circuses, zoos and private owners are taking because the funding for these large animals are
not morally enough for them to survive. As mentioned earlier, Dr. Richard Ryder in the video
What is Speciesism? explaining that the common ground that connects humans to elephants or
any other animals is the act of suffering through multiple obstacles, but in the case of elephants,
they should not be forced to live under the conditions of confinement.
As Clay Shirkey, a consultant and teacher on the social and economic effects of Internet
technologies, explained in his TedTalk How social media can make history, he explained that
the has become the main source of communication and of being updated in news from other parts
of the world; [media] is more and more often a way of creating an environment for convening
and supporting groups (14:20). This shows that as technology advances, humans rely more on
social media to speak out the message of helping these elephants and let others acknowledge that

there are topics that may be uncomfortable to speak of to the public but makes a significant
difference to the animals in need of their attention and to speak out for them and become their
voice. Some of the ways that social media can help is leading them towards multiple petitions
that supports these advocacy campaigns, such like one of the groups from the Social Media
Campaign focused on the use of animals for our own entertainment. With the use of social media
such as Instagram, twitter and creating their own website, they were able to inform users and
their followers on the multiple types of entertainment they are used in and the outcome of their
lifestyle (animalsarentactors.com). Being able to monitor that there are groups just like the ones
created in this course but some are led towards higher levels of creating laws and passing bill
such as the ones mentioned earlier. In understanding that it is nearly impossible to eliminate
these public entertainment organizations completely, a solution that is compromising to this
pertaining problem would be creating regulations, that even privatized organizations are not
exempted from, where these elephants are living under practical conditions such as being in bond
groups and in the specific amount of space; if they are not able to reach these regulations, they
are no longer owners of these elephants.
In summary of this project, elephants are more than what circuses and zoos perceive them
to be through the use of stages and confined spaces for them. Through the researchers and
experts, such as Cynthia Moss, Joyce Poole, and philosophers, such as Richard Ryder and Peter
Singer, have explained the capabilities of elephants and other animals that are seen under the
same conditions of being captive. The problem of being in captivity for elephants specifically is
one of the biggest problems any society can have because that encourages younger generations,
such as my younger self, to see these animals under the light that we are trying to dismantle.