It's No Circus for the Animals

Don't Support the "Greatest Sham on Earth"

By Tracey Laszloffy, Best Friends Volunteer

On May 7, 2008, the Ringling Brothers circus is coming to town in Hartford, Connecticut. No doubt there will be many gleeful children and delighted parents who will attend this event and believe they are participating in wholesome family fun. But there is an untold story hiding beneath the big top that members of the public rarely hear about.

The Horrors Hiding Under the Big Top

Circuses like Ringling Bros. work hard to hide the truth that lurks behind the swirl of colorful costumes, lively music, and unusual acts. The last thing they want is for the public to think about the reality that animals used for entertainment are little more than hostages held in captivity and forced to labor in stressful and traumatic conditions.

When not training or performing, circus animals spend their lives confined in small cages, or in the case of elephants, chained. They suffer from loneliness and boredom, endure extremes of heat and cold during transport, and are routinely deprived of adequate veterinary care, despite the fact that the rate of injury and illness is high.

Animals used in circuses are generally handled roughly and subjected to brazenly cruel training methods. In fact, Ringling Bros. ardently fought against proposed laws to ban cruel training tactics such as the chaining of elephants and use of bull hooks. They claimed that bull hooks are not used abusively, which is a patent lie. Bull hooks by their very nature are an instrument of domination that allows trainers to bend elephants to their will by inflicting pain and fear. Elephants have extremely sensitive skin and the sharp metal hook on the end of the bull hook routinely bruises, punctures, and tears their skin. To hide the evidence of this abuse, former Ringling employees reported the bloody wounds inflicted by bull hooks are usually covered up with topsoil. Given that no governmental agency monitors training sessions, it should be of little surprise that brutality behind the scenes is common.

The USDA is responsible for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) which mandates minimal standards related to things like the provision of food, shelter and veterinary care. Ringling Bros. has been cited by the USDA numerous times for animal welfare violations such as failing to provide animals with sufficient space, lack of adequate exercise, leaving lions unattended in boxcars where they died of heatstroke, and failing to provide adequate veterinary care. Just a few examples of this last one include citations for failing to provide medical attention to a camel with bloody wounds, to a disabled elephant, and to an elephant with a large swelling on her rear leg. They also were cited for causing trauma and stress to two baby elephants who suffered painful rope lesions when they were prematurely pulled from their mothers, and for not properly euthanizing a caged tiger…(ah, he was shot to death). They also had to pay a $20,000 penalty to settle USDA charges of failing to provide veterinary care to a sick baby elephant who died shortly after he was forced to perform.

A signed statements by two former Ringling employees described routine abuse of animals including “an elephant was left covered with blood after a violent beating that lasted for 30 minutes, a horse was whipped with the metal snap on a lead for 10 minutes and was later found to have a broken tooth, a miniature horse was knocked senseless after he was repeatedly slugged in the face with such force that the sound of the handler’s fist hitting the horse’s face could be heard 20 feet away, and the elephants were forced to stand in mountains of foul-smelling feces and urine during transport” (PETA).

A Disservice to Children and Animals

When I was twelve, my friend’s father took us to the Shriner circus in Hartford. I will never forget when they brought out the chimpanzees who were dressed in men’s undershirts. I focused in on one of the chimps and studied his face as he scampered around in his undershirt following the commands that were being barked at him. I was overcome with a deep and gut-wrenching grief as I saw his degradation and humiliation. I saw the futility and stupidity of his existence in his carnival of cruelty. To be honest, even though it’s over 25 years later, I still cannot recollect that memory with coming to tears. I still see his sweet, sad, knowing face. So many times since I have thought about him and wondered about his life and what happened to him. But knowing what I know now, I realize it was a life of pain and despair that ended badly, just as it is for all animals who are trapped in the Greatest Sham on Earth and all “shows” like it.

Exposing children to animals used in circuses does a disservice to both the animals and to children. Seeing animals in unnatural and degrading situations is not educational. There is nothing normal or natural about elephants twirling, skipping and standing on their heads, just as tigers and lions do not normally jump through fire hoops, and bears don’t balance on balls. Animals only perform these unnatural acts because they are beaten and bullied into doing so and while the overt cruelty that occurs behind the scenes is not evident during a show, nevertheless, the interaction between the trainers and the animals makes clear that it is a relationship based on domination. The message being conveyed to kids is that it acceptable for one party (trainers) to use coercion to subjugate another party (animals). As they watch trainers maintaining control over these most unnatural situations with whips, sticks and bull hooks in hand they are exposed to a clear message about using the tactics of domination and aggression.

Euphemistic terms like “entertainment” cannot change the fundamental reality that circuses that use animals are rooted in exploitation and cruelty. Haven’t we progressed beyond the mentality of the Roman Coliseum where gladiators fighting to the death and pitting convicts against wild bears and tigers was considered entertainment? Have we not achieved a level of civility that compels us to do better by our children and by our animal brothers and sisters?

What You Can Do

If you are planning to attend Ringling Bros when it comes to Hartford, or in some other city, or if you will attend some other show involving animal acts, please reconsider your choice. If you know someone who will be attending, please share the facts with them with this Circus Education Guide

There are many wonderful circuses that rely solely on human talents, like Cirque du Soleil which has been performing in Hartford for the past several weeks. For a list of non-animal circuses go to Animal Free Circuses or visit peta.org

Consider staging a protest when a circus is scheduled to come to your area. Please see A Circus Schedule to check your area. And click here for suggestions on what to do when the circus comes to town.

Click here to Take Action to Help Animals Used in Circuses.

Photo courtesy of atourhands