People who exploit animals for profit, or any other reason, believe that humans have the right to use animals as they please. Animal exploitation is animal cruelty.

Circuses, zoos, marine parks, and similar venues exploit animals to entertain audiences who pay to see animals perform. Seeing a bear dance or a seal clap looks like a “neat” experience, but it comes at a cost to the animal’s health and freedom. Most people are unaware of the brutal conditions animals endure behind the scenes, such as being forced into submission, being kept in tiny cages, and being denied socialization with other members of their species.

Roughly 96 percent of circus animals spend their lives in a cage, and are trained with barbaric instruments like electric prods, whips, bullhooks and chains. Some trainers even starve their animals to get better results. The sad fact is that people continue to ignore the inhumane aspects of these animal attractions because they believe that people who work with animals are responsible individuals who respect and love animals.

Of course, many of them do, but the fact remains that animals do not belong in circuses, zoos, or marine parks.

Even zoos, which are often praised for their conservation efforts, have been rife with animal cruelty. Animal abuse in zoos can take many forms, from starving animals to sending them to livestock options. And when a crisis occurs, like the COVID-19 pandemic, zoo animals are left to die from a lack of resources because they are not considered a priority.

In Romania, animals such as wolves, snakes, bears, monkeys, and lions are illegally owned by individuals for hobby and profit. The most common attraction is a guesthouse where people, mostly tourists, can stay in an accommodation where an exotic animal is tied up in their backyard. There are also many places, often illegal, that offer pictures with captive animals such as deer and bears.

These attractions involving captive animals are part of wildlife tourism. Wildlife tourism exploits animals from birth until they are either euthanized or abandoned once they are no longer considered “valuable” by their owners. These animals endure years of suffering at their owners’ hands who use cruel training methods to teach them to perform for tourists.

Like wildlife trafficking, wildlife tourism can only be eradicated if there is no demand to see animals perform. ROLDA advocates for the closure of these tourist attractions and the relocation of captive animals. We have created petitions urging the ANSVSA and the Garda de Mediu (National Environmental Guard) inspectors to shut down all illegal wildlife tourism operations across Romania immediately.