In the Bible, in Genesis 8:22-9:17 it says “All the animals…will live in fear of you. They are all placed under your power.” The fact that it says “They are all placed under your power”, might influence a religious believer to think that we are allowed to control animals and we can do whatever we want with them, they would therefore think that it is alright to use animals for entertainment.
In the Bible, in Proverbs 12:10, it says “A good man takes care of his animals, but wicked men are cruel to theirs.” This might make a Christian agree with some forms of animal entertainment but not others. Bullfights and circuses both involve cruelty, the former involves repeatedly harming the animal, exhausting it and killing it, and the latter involves keeping animals in small cages and forcing them to behave in unnatural ways. Zoos, however, are a lot kinder to the animals; the animals in the zoo are protected and are allowed to live in a habitat that is similar to their own. A Christian might therefore disagree with bullfights and circuses but agree with zoos because a zoo’s purpose is to conserve and protect animals, not to harm them.
In the Roman Catholic Catechism it says “Animals are for the common good of past, present and future humanity. Man’s dominion is not absolute.” Pope John Paul II also said “All life is given to us to share and develop, not dominate and exploit…We have the responsibility to create a balance between consumption and conservation.” Both these statements might make a Christian think differently about the use of animals for entertainment. Neither circuses nor bullfighting conserve animals, and both dominate and exploit the animals. Zoos, however, are serving a common good by educating people and teaching them about our responsibilities as stewards, they are also conserving and saving animals, as well as sharing foreign animals that one does not normally see with a community. These statements might therefore also influence Christians and change their attitude towards the use of animals as entertainment.
As you can see there are some verses and statements that support the use of animals for entertainment but most do not or only support some forms of it. Animal entertainment such as bullfighting and circuses are ruled out mainly because they are cruel to the animals and although in zoos the animals are kept in cages, they don’t suffer cruelty and are also used to educate as well as to entertain.