An animal show is a form of exhibition featuring the display or performance of one or more breeds of animal.
[USDA Animal Welfare Act, Licensing and Registration, APHIS USDA (retrieved 26 May 2012)]
Purpose
An animal show can be for entertainment, educational, and/or commercial purpose. A judged event may rank specimens for the benefit of those involved in animal breeding or
husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, startin ...
, or provide entertainment to
animal fancy
Animal fancy is a hobby involving the appreciation, promotion, or breeding of pet or domestic animals.
Fancy may include ownership, showing, animal sports and other competitions, and breeding. Hobbyists may simply collect specimens of the anima ...
hobby
A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...
ists.
Types of shows
The US Animal Welfare Act identifies a number of types of animal exhibitions:
Amusement parks
Modern amusement parks often feature performing marine mammals and even contain drive-thru animal safari tours. The animal shows are typically operated by a contracted performer, while the animal parks are owned by the theme park itself.
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Animal fighting ventures
The US Animal Welfare Act prohibits the staging of dog fighting
Dog fighting is a type of blood sport that turns game and fighting dogs against each other in a physical fight, generally to the death, for the purposes of gambling or entertainment to the spectators. In rural areas, fights are often staged in ...
or baiting (including bear or raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
-baiting). Cockfighting
A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...
is outlawed in every state in the United States but is not banned nationally in the US.[
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Animal performances
Animals perform tricks and stunts in the circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...
, marine mammal shows, amusement parks, carnivals, independent animal acts, television shows, movies, and educational exhibits. These can be licensed acts with booking agents.[
]
Carnivals
Animals can be displayed or be given as prizes by concessionaires at carnivals.[
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Farm animal exhibitions
Farm animals are exhibited at agricultural show
An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhibit ...
s, fairs, and other exhibitions.[ In the US, ]4-H
4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...
is actively involved in youth participation in the exhibition of livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...
at county and state fairs and dedicated livestock show
A livestock show is an event where livestock are exhibited and judged on certain phenotypical breed traits as specified by their respective breed standard. Species of livestock that may be shown include pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, horses, llam ...
s.
Horse shows
Horse show
A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer ...
s are competitions in which riders cause their horses to perform particular gaits and activities for recognition and prizes.[
]
Marine mammal shows
Marine mammal shows include the display or performance of marine mammal
Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their ...
s such as polar bears, sea otters, whale
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...
s, porpoises, dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
s, manatee
Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living speci ...
s, dugong
The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...
s, seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...
s, sea lion
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...
s, walrus
The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...
es, and other mammals with fins or flippers.[
In 2013, Miller and his colleagues showed that dolphin shows and public interaction with dolphins increases « knowledge, attitudes and behavioral intentions » towards dolphins and their environment, on a limited time scale. They have also revealed that the more the shows were seen, the more people were taking conservation actions.
Unfortunately, many studies have demonstrated that several marine mammals aren’t made for captivity and keeping them in these tanks is a form of cruelty. Also, the main messages send by these shows are told to be controversial.
To face these difficulties, Edge Innovation created a robotic dolphin. The goal is to keep educating and entertaining the public without having to keep marine mammals in captivity.
]
Pet shows
Dog show
A dog show is an event where dogs are exhibited. A conformation show, also referred to as a '' breed show'', is a kind of dog show in which a judge, familiar with a specific dog breed, evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs ' ...
s, cat show
A cat show is a judged event where the owners of cats compete to win titles in various cat registering organizations by entering their cats to be judged after a breed standard. Both pedigreed and companion (or moggy) cats are admissible, althoug ...
s, hamster show
A hamster show is an event in which people gather hamsters to judge them against each other. Hamster shows are also places where people share their enthusiasm for hamsters among attendees. Hamster shows feature an exhibition of the hamsters partic ...
s, and rabbit shows are exhibitions for breeders and breed enthusiasts.[
The ]Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is an all-breed conformation show, traditionally held annually at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is one of a handful of benched shows in the United States. Dogs ...
has been held annually since 1877. Over 300,000 dogs were rated by 134 judges in 134 shows through 2011.[2013 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Information (retrieved 26 May 2012) ]
Promotional exhibits
Animals are sometimes used to attract business to a commercial enterprise, such as a bear at a gasoline service station, a monkey at a trade show, or an elephant at a shopping center. These animals are typically displayed but might also perform in a show.[
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Rodeos
Farm animals and horses perform competitively at rodeos.[
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Zoological parks
Modern zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...
s often include animal shows for educational purposes. Petting zoo
A petting zoo (also called a children's zoo, children's farm, or petting farm) features a combination of domesticated animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, many genera ...
s and roadside zoos are commercial enterprises that typically only display animals.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Show (Animal)
Animal shows