Urge the Grounds to Drop Cruelty from the Fair!

(Mobile-AL) The Grounds will host the 62nd annual Greater Gulf State Fair from October 28 – November 6, 2016. This year’s Fair is planned to feature several events which cause undeniable suffering to the animals used and abused for this cruel entertainment. Scheduled acts feature wild animals including lions, tigers, gators, bears, monkeys, and owls. These shows occur daily. Moreover, the Fair also has a rodeo and stampede scheduled to run on two days, Oct. 30th and 31st. This petition seeks to ask the Grounds to reconsider its decision to host such cruel and abusive acts and asks the public to protest the Fair if the Grounds goes ahead with its current plans.
Wild animals used for entertainment in circuses, roadside zoos, and traveling shows like this one lead miserable, unnatural lives of deprivation. They are often separated from their families, mistreated, and live their lonely lives chained, behind bars, in completely unnatural conditions. Furthermore, because you can’t train a wild animal to perform unnatural acts without the use of cruel and painful training techniques, these animals are routinely subjected to inhumane and demoralizing training methods which the public never sees. Wild animal acts are increasingly being banned around the world in recognition of the inherent cruelty involved in exploiting other living beings as a form of entertainment.
Animals used in rodeos often experience injuries including broken bones, snapped necks, and bruising. They are chased, whipped, roped, dragged to the ground and experience untold terror. This is not entertainment. It is abuse of vulnerable innocent beings. Events being held at this rodeo rely on painful tools and techniques including sharp sticks, tail-twisting, spurs, electric prods, and bucking straps to make bulls, horses, and baby calves appear wild. Dr. Charles Haber, a veterinarian and former federal meat inspector who has observed many discarded rodeo animals asserts: "I have seen animals with 6 to 8 ribs broken from the spine and, at times, puncturing the lungs. I have seen as much as 2 to 3 gallons of free blood accumulated under the detached skin." In the calf-roping event, delicate young animals suffer considerable damage to the ligament that secures the neck to the body. According to Dr. Robert Fetzner, wounded calves indisputably endure extreme pain.

Moreover, the these exotic animal events and the rodeo both teach children that removing animals from their natural environments and abusing them is an accepted form of entertainment. These acts do nothing for the conservation of species or for educating the public about anything other than culturally sanctioned animal abuse and cruelty.
Please sign and share our petition which seeks to educate the Grounds and the public about the cruelty inherent in these events and asks the Grounds to choose more humane, compassionate forms of entertainment which do not abuse or exploit other living beings.