You're getting ready to head out – getting your hair just right, your clothes fitting well and calling all of your friends. You want to dance – loud music, alcohol, conversation and laughter. It's your choice. You can go to one place or many; you can call whoever you want to be around or not. Best of all you can choose to leave this atmosphere when you feel it's enough for the night. When you compare this enjoyment to animals entertaining humans, they have no choice to do it or leave it – this is not a job they applied for; and they have to do it daily in an unfamiliar space confined and restricted. The same music played day in and day out with no rest. In fact, they have no choice at all – if they want to eat to survive. Society seems to have grown around this fantasy that animals do tricks for us because they choose to, and as a child, my school would take us on day trips to see captive animals in cages and tanks. It's been placed into our school systems that this is okay. Schools in North America are geared around “business” and that is why the support of such businesses have been ruled ‘okay' as a learning device. Yes, children love animals and yes, they would do anything for them – but blinded/uneducated about the pain the animals are enduring is not giving the proper tools of empowerment. I am almost certain if the children were told how the animals were captured, removed from their family and beaten at times to perform these tricks they would be outraged and upset. Our school system's teaching curriculum is out of date and I am happy to start seeing a new “Open-eyed” teacher emerging amongst the crowd showing the truth of these businesses – becoming the change we need in our educational system. Change is what we're aiming for – evolving is an ongoing natural process, not a constant. To say, “We've done this all along” is such an ignorant and backwards way of thinking in regards to most actions, especially captivity. We are an animal that learns daily and strives for better positive ways of doing things amongst our own lives, family lives, and our city and country's direction. As we change we are still allowing companies that support primitive actions like animal captivity to continue while we know now that most of the animals are social beings – are sentient beings, have large families and teach their young to survive – just like us. This industry of captivity is way out of control and the money they make on the distress and confinement of animals is unthinkable. Come to think about it, the advertisement in my area for a certain Marineland Park with captive animals is geared with a child's voice telling his family to visit. The slogan has been used for decades now and it says “Everyone Loves Marineland” – clearly false advertisement. I don't love Marineland! To love Marineland is to accept animal captivity. The local television and radio stations are polluting our public airwaves with this nonsense, which shows we have more avenues to find leaders – for positive change. Ocean Activists United – International Grassroots Action (OAU) has seen this new avenue to expose this advertisement with one of the hundreds of radio stations to ask them to be that leader. Toronto's 102.1 “The Edge” radio station was chosen and action commenced immediately. This organization parked its members outside of the station to expose them as a player of this “false advertisement.” They were asking them to be the first “leader of positive change” within their industry by choosing “ethical advertisement.” They believe this advertisement is holding back change since it's directed at children – who clearly are the future. So when you think of the word “entertainment” you may be thinking of a movie, a night out dancing, television, radio station, or just a concert! I can almost bet you that no one would be thinking a Circus, Zoo, or a Marine Park. However, being the 21st Century we still have these so-called Amusement Parks that entertain people by the use of animals. There are hundreds or even thousands of these establishments in some form or another worldwide. Some animals have more space than others, but they are all held in captivity unwillingly. I ask of you please choose not to support animal captivity and let's break the cycle together by teaching our children about this – it's their right. ** Bob Timmons is a Canada-based animal activist and proponent of animal rights throughout the world. BM
