Entertainment

Entertainment is yet another way we humans use and exploit animals. There are different ways in which animals are used for entertainment, but all of them rely on the idea that animals are resources for our amusement: that it is ok for us to deprive them from their liberty and even their lives if we have fun by doing so.

Ethical veganism is not about reducing pain and suffering. It is an animal rights position that rejects all forms of animal commodification and use: if we think animals are not things or resources, then we don’t use them regardless of suffering. Suffering is understood as one of the consequences of animal use; not as the core problem. The core problem is non-veganism: seeing animals as property or resources than can be used for human consumption.

Consistently, vegans do not use animals for entertainment. It doesn’t matter if the animal is killed or not and it doesn’t matter if the animal experiences pain or not: animals do not belong to us and they have an inherent basic right not to be treated as means to humans ends.

Here you have some of the different ways animals are used under this form of animal exploitation:

Zoos, aquariums, circuses, horse rides, fighting / interacting with humans (such as bullfighting, dogfighting, rodeos), competitions (such as horse racing, greyhound racing), bets in fairs.

Not using animals for entertainment is very easy. Music, dance, photography, play-acting, sports; the list of the different ways in which we can have fun without using animals is endless! Using animals for entertainment is, like all forms of animal use, exploitative, unfair, unjust and unnecessary.