This post is about the Sloth bears of India that are trained cruelly to dance for entertainment. Making bears dance has a long history that started in ancient times. The bears are usually trained by the poorer class that has few other options to make money. The practice was until recently in many places in the world including the U.K. The bears are trained by putting hot plates under their feet and and turning on music. This is done until the bear associates the music with pain and then dances every time the music comes on. In india their trainers are primarily a nomadic group called Kalandar. Currently international animal welfare groups are working to make so that these people do not have to use this bear as their means for making money. The practice is a horrible thing and carries up to a seven year sentence for someone caught with a dancing bear. Below is a TED talk about these bears and their conditions.
I never knew what the process was of dancing bears really was, I never figured that such harsh things would happen. It's very interesting to hear about and i'm glad that people are stopping these places. I hope that it gets ended altogether!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that people who do this to the bears are put in jail for up to 7 years. This is an extremely cruel practice and it's good that something is being done about it.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that the process of training bears was so harsh. Hopefully soon people can find other ways to make money other than training bears how to dance.
ReplyDeleteI had never even heard of this before! This is horrible, and it's shocking to me that it's still being practiced in some places around the world. Reminds me a lot of dog fighting, it's sad that the human race uses these animals pain for our own entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why watching bears dance while tied to a four foot rope would be entertaining for anyone. It is good that there are programs for the people of India to help them make money without harming any bears.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cruel, no animals should have to go through something like that. Using animals to make money is wrong in so many ways and the way they are treated, disgusting. I'm grateful for the people trying to stop this.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely a great thing that people are making an effort to stop cruelty to animals. I've been studying illegal whaling and finding out that many countries treat animals very poorly and in some cases kill them to the point of extinction. I'm glad there are organizations that are actually working in order to stop killing and harming animals.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that people are putting a stop to this. I think that there should be a harsher punishment for people caught doing this or being an accomplice. Seven years shouldn't be the highest penalty. It should be the lowest.
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