Will Animal-Themed Carousels Change With the Times?
Today, PETA sent a letter to Aaron Landrum, president and CEO of Chance Rides, the largest manufacturer of amusement rides in the country, asking that the company end the production and sale of animal-themed carousels that normalize the use of animals as conveyances and amusements and instead produce carousel figures in the shape of cars, airplanes, spaceships, bulldozers, and other vehicles or more whimsical designs, like shooting stars, rainbows, or brooms.
Animals used for rides and other forms of entertainment—including camels, horses, elephants, and dolphins—are often beaten into submission, deprived of everything that’s natural and important to them, and even slaughtered once their bodies wear out. Public opinion has turned against such acts of human domination over other species.
Children learn through play, and teaching them to have respect and compassion for all living, feeling beings can help create a more just and merciful world.
PETA urges Chance Rides and all other carousel manufacturers to hit the brakes on old-fashioned animal-themed rides and embrace designs that engage children’s imagination and showcase human talent.
If Chance Rides makes the switch, it would join a growing list of compassionate companies—including Nabisco, Trader Joe’s, and Dukal Corporation—that have successfully updated their designs to reflect society’s changing perceptions of our relationships with others on the planet.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
