Morality of animals in sport

Many animal rights have argued against horse and elephant polo. Elephant polo has come in for particular criticism as some feel it discourages efforts by the Indian government to gain respect for the elephant in India.

Some argue that Polo is against animal rights, in the way that animals are encouraged to take part in a human activity. Like with horse racing animal rights protesters feel that often the horses are just used as a tool for a sport.

The three main causes of protest tend to be;

1. Animals should be free to live the life in their natural environment, as in the argument for protesting against zoos

2. Actual cruelty, deliberate or accidental committed on the animals as part of the sport. For example whipping of the horses, and animals being kept in poor crampt storage conditions.

3. The danger that such a use of an animal in the sport encourages a disrespect for the animal. So that in some areas where bear dancing is still in vogue the idea of using animals for sport may encourage people to feel other uses of the animal can be justified. Or that treating the animal as an entertainment tool may simply lower the respect that many environmentalist feel should be kept especially for rare animals. Some animal preservation groups feel that using elephants on polo encourages a disrespect for elephants that may discharge the government form treating issue of elephant preservation seriously.

There are two strands to animal protection.

The Animal welfare and the animal rights movement. The animal welfare movement argues that animals should be treated well but that they can be used for entertainment or sport if they are treated well. Infact some argue that many animals can have better life in captivity, or that some breeds and species would not be able to naturally survive in the wild.

They argue that animals have five freedoms
Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition
Freedom from discomfort due to environment
Freedom from pain, injury and disease
Freedom to express normal behavior for the species
Freedom from fear and distress

Yet it is possible to believe in animal welfare for animal species and animal rights for other species. You may feel that elephant polo is a step too far, or that pets are acceptable but that zoos are not. Some argue that in elephant polo the animals are often scarred, or traumatized from the damage due to the games. Many argue that elephant polo does not encourage respect for elephants and encourages them to be seen as animals to be used purely for human fun rather than to be treated with respect and dignity. This they say discourages the efforts of elephant preservation groups to encourage people in India to respect the conservation of the elephant.

Some websites on the internet on the issue of animal rights / animal welfare include:

http://www.advocatesforanimals.org.uk/ Advocates for Animals;

http://www.captiveanimals.org Captive Animal Protection Society, UK

http://www.wpsi-india.org/ Wildlife Protection Society of India,

http://www.freewebs.com/elephantpolo/ Elephant Polo
http://www.animalwelfarecouncil.com/

http://www.peta.org/ People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

http://www.rspca.org.uk/ Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)

http://www.scottishspca.org/ Scottish SPCA

http://www.aspca.org/ American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

http://www.animalaid.org.uk Animal aid

http://www.fawc.org.uk/ Farm Animal Welfare Council

http://www.league.org.uk League Against Cruel Sports