18 FEBRUARY 1938, Page 19

PERFORMING ANIMALS

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sut,—Last holidays, hie a great many other boys I went to the circus. Of course I enjoyed it. The enjoyment is derived from mental self-identification with the performers. The physical is forgotten. The brilliance and efficiency of the production take the mind by storm. You do not think of the strain on nerves and muscles, only of the abstract glory of accomplishment.

But afterwards you feel a tinge of anxiety, perhaps inar- ticulate, at the back of your mind. Do the animals enjoy it ? Of course, at the time you saw yourself as the trainer. You ask some other people. They are not encouraging. They say they " suppose it's all right."

The fact is, too few people think about it at all. Is it common • sense to suppose that wild animals enjoy arduous hours of work, learning feats from which they obtain no profit ? Success only means more engagements, more work. The trainer may have the harder job, but he at least can appreciate popular recognition of his achievement.

I do not know whether animals are trained' by "kindness " or not. But I know that the " spade-work " underlying any achievement is objectionable, even when the object is clearly in view. When it is not in view, such work must be worse still. It is a severe strain on the nerves to live continually in unsympathetic surroundings. If cruel' methods of training are used, such life must become still more wretched. '

I consider that in this respect we have -abused our 'duty towards the animals They are captured and imprisoned- by force, and if they express their discontent by escaping;' all we dolt to shoot them or recapture them for more imprison- ment. We degrade them by making-' them imitate the

artificialities of human life—wearing clothes, riding bicycles, &c. If the only way in which we can use our advantage over the animals is to exploit them, Noah might as well have scuttled the ark.—Yours faithfully, R. G. ADAMS. The Close, Bradfield College, Berks.