Lia Christensen 1
Lia Christensen
Instructor Gladwin
WR 121 / Essay 2
May 13 2018
Animals Are Not Clowns
http://creativecriminals.com/print/ldpa/animals-are-not-clowns
Lia Christensen 2
This powerful depiction of a lion wearing clown makeup is brought by a combined
campaign from two Portuguese animal rights organizations: Acção Animal and Liga Portuguesa
dos Direitos do Animal (LPDA). These organizations show what comparative psychology has
demonstrated over the past 50 years: that animals have complex emotional and psychological
lives. As feeling beings, they should not be subjected to degrading circus tricks. Many circuses
like Ringly Brothers, have paraded lions and tigers grouped in a small rings jumping over one
another, getting in a line and rearing up on their back legs, and rolling over all while getting
stung in the face from sharp blows. This is reminiscent of slaughters of wild beasts and
gladiators in ancient Rome. The image of a lion wearing clown makeup changes the character of
the animal in the mind of the viewer from a dangerous, potentially lethal predatory animal, to
