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Carousel with wooden horse (in Paris): PETA activists in the USA reject animal figures on rides
Photo: G. Lacz / imagebroker / IMAGO
Whether it's factory farming, fur farms or cruel transport: the animal protection organization Peta is known for its resolute campaign against all forms of animal cruelty around the world. PETA activists in the USA have now gone one step further: They are calling for a ban on carousel animals. This does not mean live animals, but rather artificial figures made of porcelain, wood or plastic as part of rides.
A letter was sent to Aaron Landrum, president and CEO of Chance Rides, the largest US manufacturer of amusement rides, the animal protection organization said on its US website. The letter calls on the company to stop producing and selling carousels with animal motifs.
Of course, this is only indirectly about real animal suffering. From the point of view of PETA activists, animal figures in rides promote a dubious image of how people should treat live animals - especially children. The animal rights activists fear that the carousel animals give the impression that the use of animals as a means of transport and for entertainment is normal - and that is exactly what the activists see completely differently.
“Animals used for rides and other forms of entertainment – including camels, horses, elephants and dolphins – are often beaten in reality to make them compliant,” warns Peta. They would be robbed of everything that was natural and important to them. They would even be slaughtered when their bodies were worn out. “Public opinion has turned against such acts of human domination over other species,” say animal rights activists.
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That's why the animal figures on carousels should be put to an end. Children learned through play, says Peta. If you teach them respect and compassion for all living, sentient beings, you can "create a more just and merciful world." Manufacturers of carousel figures should therefore rely on cars, airplanes, spaceships, bulldozers or more bizarre designs such as shooting stars, rainbows or brooms.
Other companies, the organization said, have already made the switch and successfully updated their designs. The Dutch branch of PETA agrees with this stance, as the “Frankfurter Rundschau” reports. The animal rights activists therefore called on the Efteling theme park to refrain from using horses and other animals on carousels.
"Amusement parks don't mean it that way, of course, but these carousels give children the feeling that it's normal to use animals just for our pleasure," the activists are quoted as saying. »We therefore join Peta US’s call. It may be symbolic, but it has great value,” said Janneke Hogervorst, spokeswoman for Peta Netherlands.
The German PETA organization initially did not publish a statement on its website. The US activists' demand was controversially discussed on social media.
"I think you're right," wrote a user on X (formerly Twirtter). »Images are formed in children's heads and hearts. Of course, this doesn't hurt any animal directly. But an unethical image of the use of animals is handed down. However, he is not in favor of a ban, says the user, but rather of addressing the issue.
The German actor Armin Rohde, on the other hand, sharply rejected Peta's initiative: "If this report turns out to be true, I will cancel my membership, payments and any commitment to #PETA." He supports animal protection wherever he can, wrote Rohde, but: "I don't want to have anything to do with alarmist hysterics."
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