Cruelty Under the Big Top

When most people hear the word circus, they think of popcorn, candy, "wild" animals and fun. However, behind the glitter and the glitz of the circus lies a cruel world of animal suffering. The animals are unwilling participants in a show that jeopardizes their health, their mental well-being and their lives.

Travel can be torture

Some of the larger circuses travel approximately 48 weeks out of the year and cover thousands of kilometres. Circus schedules are created to maximize attendees, not to ease suffering of the animals. Some circuses go to warmer countries because the local residents are accustomed to the heat, even though the animals may be forced to suffer in extreme temperatures. The same unfortunate situation occurs in the winter in colder areas.

The animals either travel in 18-wheelers or by trains. In 18-wheelers, the tigers are kept in cages with barely enough room to turn around; there they are forced to eat, sleep and defecate. Often the animals are not let off the railroad cars immediately, either because of traffic conditions or because the train arrived too early or late. Then the animals are forced to wait inside of the railroad cars for hours even in the extreme temperatures.

Trained by pain

Circuses force animals to perform acts that have nothing to do with how these magnificent creatures behave in the wild. These unnatural acts range from a tiger jumping through a flaming hoop to bears riding bicycles. Animals are sometimes injured while performing; tigers have been burned jumping through a flaming hoop. Training animals to perform unnatural acts requires whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods and other tools. Anytime you see elephants, you will notice that circus employees nearby always hold an ankus (a wooden stick with a sharp, pointed hook at the end) to discourage undesired behavior. The ankus is embedded into the most sensitive areas of an elephant, such as around the feet, behind the ears, under the chin, inside the mouth and other locations around the face, and is sometimes used to smash animals across the face.

Lives of constant confinement and frustration of natural instincts force animals into a state of neurosis. Elephants constantly sway back and forth in their chains and the tigers constantly pace in their cages. These repetitive behaviors are symptoms of deep psychological distress. Elephants in the wild walk many miles a day and travel in groups. In the circus, these animals are chained by two legs, unable to take one step forward, except when performing. It is well known that elephants have a close family unit. However, in the circus these families are usually torn apart.

Animals in circuses do not provide a realistic educational tool for children because the animals are forced to perform tricks that are not normal to them. Children are seeing broken-spirited animals reacting to a stressful and unnatural environment

Public Safety: Reason for Concern

Animals in circuses are threat to public safety; wild animals on our streets give communities reason to be concerned. When animals are brought in by ships, the animals are sometimes walked to an arena where they will be performing. Again, the animals are forced to endure extreme temperatures. Although some animals are accustomed to the heat, they are not used to walking on hot ground or to not having access to water, trees or mud holes. Circus trainers will even withhold food and water from animals to reduce untimely excrement.

Elephants in circuses have gone on rampages and caused destruction, injuring and killing spectators. Since 1985, over 150 people have been killed or seriously injured by captive elephants who broke free from their handlers or restraints. In 1994 an elephant named Tyke killed her "trainer", then went on a rampage in the streets on Honolulu, injuring onlookers and damaging property. Tyke was eventually gunned down in front of the public by police. Other incidents have occurred when elephants are frightened, sometime by the honking of car horns. Tigers have also been known to attack and kill their "trainers"; others have escaped into terrified communities.

Some elephants in circuses have been found to have a human strain of tuberculosis (TB). These animals pose a serious health risk since they are in contact with the public during publicity events and when children receive elephant rides.

Unseen victims

Some circuses, in addition to having animal performers, will also have other animals in a make-shift zoo. These animals, such as rhinoceroses and giraffes, are kept in small cages and are not let out. They are unable to hide as the public reaches into their cages.

What you can do

• Never attend circuses that include animals! Encourage friends and family members to only attend circuses that show the exciting talents of human performers.
  
• Write letters to local businesses and other sponsors of the circus and ask them to reconsider endorsing animal abuse. Let them know you don't expect them to have fully investigated everything they endorse, but that you would like to share with them what you know about circuses.
  

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