Over the past few weeks, recent events have made people aware of animal rights more than ever. In my opinion, animal rights aren't always the first thing that comes to people's minds on things that need to change. But with controversy around the movie, "A Dog's Purpose" and the official closing of the Ringling Brothers Circus, this shows that animal abuse is being shown more in the public eye, and we are finally taking action to help our animals.

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus has been around for 146 years, and it featured shows with elephants, lions, tigers, and other animals. For years, it has been shown through videos and investigations that the circus show abused their animals badly, some even to death. Ever since news broke out about this, their audience numbers dwindled down and people boycotted their shows. It has finally been announced that the Ringling Brothers Circus were officially ending their shows in May 2017. This is amazing news for animal rights. After years of suffering abuse to perform, people were amazed to hear the shows were finally ending. No one would want to see a circus where the animals are badly abused just for human entertainment. Barely anyone is sad to see the Ringling Brothers close down after the years their animals faced torment and abuse.

This past week, TMZ leaked videos from the filming of the movie, "A Dog's Purpose." It is shown a very scared German Shepard did not want to be in a stunt with rushing water, but those on the set forcibly made him go into the water. In my opinion, it is absolutely disgusting, and many others shared my opinion as well. There was a public outcry against this movie, even by celebrities and those involved in the movie. Organizations like PETA went after the movie after it's shown abuse towards the dog. The good thing is the premiere of "A Dog's Purpose" was canceled due to this controversy. Looking at movie showings, there are barely any screenings of it in my area. We will see how this movie does in the box office, I don't think many people will see it following this video.

Animals have been badly treated for years, and it looks like it is finally being brought to media attention. A good thing is that good changes are being made, like the closing of Ringling Brothers Circus. I personally don't think anyone should see "A Dog's Purpose" after the abuse video leaked, hopefully that will change how animals are treated on movie sets. I am a huge animal lover and have always wanted a world where animals are treated better, and I think slowly we are getting to the point where these things are being brought to attention. Hopefully this year, we will see animals being treated as they should be.