Courtney KaruzaM. RichardEnglishApril 8, 2014Describe the history of the use of animals as a form of entertainment. Throughout the ages, animals have been used in many ways to provide “entertainment” to humans. Animals used for entertainment have been documented as early as 2000 BCE (Jasper). Today's animal entertainment is derived from the animal entertainment of thousands of years ago. In Rome, Italy, the Colosseum has hosted many events involving animals for people to enjoy. For example, the Circus Maximus in Rome, Italy, was one of the most famous entertainment venues in history. It attracted more than 300,000 spectators. Chariot races were another popular form of entertainment in ancient times. A chariot race involved horses and a chariot. They would race around a track several times to declare the first place winner. Often this resulted in the horse being beaten, and sometimes even killed. Another form of entertainment to watch was the fight between 2 animals to the death. Circuses and the use of animals for entertainment purposes are simply popular today. Although most legal forms of entertainment involving animals today no longer involve fighting to the death, forcing animals to act against their will and live in terrible conditions suggests cruelty towards animals. Define animal cruelty. Animal cruelty is “cruelty to animals”. The infliction of physical pain, suffering or death on an animal, when not necessary for the purposes of training or discipline or (in the case of death) to obtain food or to release the animal suffers incurably, but it is done wantonly, for mere sport, for the indulgence of a cruel and vindictive temper, or with reckless indifference to its pain” (Blacks Law Dictionary). Today...... middle of paper ...... only pain medication is given to these horses, trainers also inject illegal drugs into the horses daily to make them bigger, faster and stronger (horse racing). Horses are just one of the few types of animals that suffer from being put to work and suffer just so humans can have fun with them. Animals held in captivity for circuses face confinement, social deprivation and violent training methods. Animals trained to perform circus acts are done through the use of intimidation and physical violence. Former circus employees reported seeing animals being beaten, whipped, and deprived of food and water, all to force them to learn their routines (ASPCA). There is minimal protection at the state and federal level for animals used for entertainment. Most animals used for human entertainment are not even covered by animal welfare law (Born Free USA).