These are desperate times for the horseracing industry. Even people who pay no attention to racing—which is just about everybody—are aghast by the carnage on America’s racetracks, where horses are collapsing and dying in shocking numbers. But some tracks are in such dire financial straits that they’re resorting to even more gratuitously cruel promotions to try to get customers through the gates: forcing ostriches, camels and zebras to race with human jockeys on their backs.

Distinguished actor, director, and playwright Sir Mark Rylance who stars in a new PETA video about the exploitation of bears for entertainment, fears the valuable connection among humans, animals, and nature is disappearing.