Although I don't think the chimp is lifting any real weight. Looks more like plastic .... but what do I know?
Posted on 09/30/2006 9:00:26 AM PDT by sonsofliberty2000
A bear struggles to retain its balance while gripping the two metal hoops, which look more like shackles than acrobatics equipment, as a wildlife park worker looks on and laughs.
This is just the latest shocking picture to emerge from the Animal Olympic Games which is being held in China, a country with a shameful animal rights record.
Chimpanzees are forced to play basketball and apparently lift huge weights, while a docile brown bear is dressed in a tutu while navigating a makeshift obstacle course in one of the strangest events ever to be staged.
The photographs are published for the first time today following outrage at earlier images which showed kangaroos being forced to take part in boxing matches with their supposed keepers and a monkey cycling while tied by the collar to the children's bike.
Other events at the 'games' include a sea lion high jump and a tug of war between an elephant and members of the audience, with more than 300 animals taking part.
The forth of the biannual events at the Shanghai Wildlife Park has attracted thousands of visitors, including rapturous school children, but has provoked outrage and serious concerns among animal rights groups the world over.
And the 'cruelty Olympics' are being held just before the human Olympics take place in Beijing. The Captive Animals' Protection Society will be writing to the Chinese Ambassador in London to complain about the event.
Craig Redmond, the UK based campaigns manager, said: "The abuse of the animals is clear. The bears, for example, will be very distressed at being forced to wear muzzles, chained and made to fight.
"The macaque money is chained and the kangaroo has a harness too. The things these animals are being made to do are not natural acts, and there will no doubt be cruelty involved in making them perform these tricks."
Shirley Galligan from the Born Free foundation added: "This is degrading for the animals, insulting to our intelligence and a disaster for any possible chance of increasing respect for the wild animals we share the world with. The Shanghai Animal Olympics is about domination and manipulation."
The protests from animal rights groups has been felt by the Chinese Government, which is keen to improve its reputation among the international community in terms of both animal and human rights. This year's Olympics could therefore be the last.
First IBTZ?!
Who cares about this nonsense?
Actually it sounds like what the health nannies want to force all people to do.
One can oppose animal cruelty without succumbing to the proposterous proposition that animals have rights.
Is that chimp really lifting that weight?
What the hell was zot worthy about this post?
No mention of China's cruelty towards Humans in this article.
yep. you'd think there'd be more outrage about China's treatment of humans. this is how socialists and communists see humans.. below animal level
Sick, sick, sick....
Bingo. There's nothing at all wrong with killing, eating or hunting animals or using them for work, but unnecessary cruelty should not be tolerated.
And can probably beat the U.S. National Team.
I've been to some zoos in China where the animals perform for food. It's very common there to "feed the animals". I've seen bears perform all sorts of tricks for a snack.
Appeal to emotionalism. Not freepworthy IMHO.
Although I don't think the chimp is lifting any real weight. Looks more like plastic .... but what do I know?
I am not one who subscribes to the theory that human rights should apply to animals. That being said, I think that this display from China is troubling.
Just because human rights do not apply to animals does not mean that we should torture them for the hell of it. I would like to think that people in general have a bit more intelligence and compassion than to find the suffering of dumb animals amusing.
These comments show that a bunch of mental defectives are protesting. They presume that cruelty is involved but can only come up with opinions about distressed animals and degrading treatment. Any time "animal rights" comes up I know the mind set of the protesters.
The Chinese record on treating people is bad, and on animals it is absolutely abysmal.
On the other hand, animal rights people (distinct from animal lovers) believe that all manner of human treatment of animals is bad --zoos are "prisons", dogs cannot have "owners", full human rights should be conferred on monkeys, stepping on ants is an act of mass-murder....
You read the report, and condemn the Chinese, only to feel yourself at once falling into bed with KOOKS.....
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