Stop animal abuse

Wild animals don't belong in captivity. That's just all there is to it. And they certainly don't belong on television, being forced to do tricks for an audience's amusement at home. Unfortunately, because of the popularity of using animals in ads, many exotic animals have to spend their lives doing just that.

Take chimpanzees, for example. Because it's kind of funny to see monkeys and apes dressed up in human clothes, many advertisers use trained chimps to hawk their products.

But chimpanzees' similarity to humans doesn't just extend to their ability to wear trousers. They feel fear and loneliness just like we do -- and raising them to be used in commercials means they often don't learn the behaviors necessary to fit in with other apes.

Perhaps worse, seei ng chimps in ads can make viewers believe that taking animals from the wild -- or perhaps buying one on the black market to use as a pet -- is acceptable.

It's time for us to catch up with the 21st century and stop relying on wild animals for our entertainment. Tell the UK to update its Performing Animals Act to ban the use of exotic animals in advertising.