|
The Circus
Photo Credit: The Elephant Alliance
Animals work from fear.
–Henry Ringling North
|
Circus animals often suffer from inadequate care. They spend most of their lives in small, dirty cages, released only to perform. Many circus animals are leased seasonably from dealers; they thus go from one circus to another, providing little incentive for circus owners to keep them healthy. Their access to food and water is thus limited, and they are provided with insufficient veterinary care. Circus animals cannot socialize with other members of their species. They are typically “cared for” by seasonal or temporary circus workers who have little or no experience caring for exotic animals.
|
An LCA investigator recently went undercover inside the Carson & Barnes
Circus, where he documented extreme animal abuse, including elephants being beaten with baseball bats, pitchforks, and other objects; shocked with electric prods; and hit on the head and across the face. We worked with local media to expose this cruelty and filed a complaint with the United State Department of Agriculture in an effort to bring an end to the mistreatment of these magnificent creatures. To see the undercover footage that aired on California’s KCAL-9,
click here.
LCA worked to pass Rhode Island HB 7108, a bill that would have made it illegal to use elephants, lions, tigers, or bears in any live
performance or display (with the exception of accredited zoos). It failed
getting voted on this session of the legislator but please continue to send
letters urging the passings of legislations to ban animal acts in the next
session of 2003. Visit HERE
for sample letters, petitions, media contacts, and actions you can take to help
Rhode Island's performing animals.
Training
Training circus animals generally involves physically punishing them. They are routinely whipped, beaten with long metal rods, shocked with electric prods, and struck with clubs, even during performances. Newly captured elephants are tied down and beaten so that they will learn not to fight back. Trainers often strike elephants with a bullhook or an ankus on the sensitive areas of their skin such as around their eyes, under their chin, inside their mouth, and behind their knees and ears. An ankus is also sometimes used to smash animals across the face. Bears have their noses broken and their paws burned to teach them to walk on their hind legs.
Tight collars and muzzles are placed on some circus animals. A number of animals are drugged to make them more manageable. Others have their teeth removed; one group of chimpanzees reportedly had their teeth knocked out by a hammer. Finally, circus animals are sometimes deprived of food and water to induce them to perform, as well as to prevent untimely defecation while they are in public view.
Photo Credit: The Elephant Alliance
Photo Credit: The Elephant Alliance
|
Confinement
During the off-season, animals are kept in traveling
crates, barn stalls, or trucks. As a result of this
intense, unremitting confinement, animals resort to
unnatural acts. Confined elephants sway and bob their
heads incessantly. Confined tigers and bears pace. Other
bears have been known to beat their heads against their
cages. Bar biting and self-mutilation are common among
circus animals, as a result of the stress caused by
confinement. The majority of circus elephants were
captured from the wild. These elephants, who walked
several miles each day while in their natural habitat,
are chained by two legs for approximately 20 or more
hours each day, unable to take a step forward. Although
they would normally live with their families in
close-knit groups, the circus separates these highly
social creatures from other elephants.
|
Climate
The climates circus animals encounter during their exhaustive travels are often very different than that of their natural habitats. Bears are forced to endure extreme heat in the summer, and sometimes even walk across hot concrete on their way into the performing arena. Lions, on the other hand, find the cold very difficult to bear; some circus animals have frozen to death.
Transportation
Circus animals are often shipped in trucks and railway cars without heat or air conditioning. They are frequently deprived of food and water during transport. Instead of being let off railway cars immediately after arriving at the destination, they are sometimes forced to remain inside for hours despite extreme temperatures.
The Animal Welfare Act
The only federal legislation regulating the treatment of wild animals in circuses is the Animal Welfare Act, which sets minimal standards for their handling, care, and transport. Not only are these standards inadequate, they are inconsistently enforced. Moreover, facilities that do not comply with the Act are often given several opportunities to remedy violations.
|
Photo Credit: The Elephant Alliance
|
Education
Observing performing animals teaches children nothing about the natural behaviors of other species of life. Instead, they are presented with an image of either ferocious or stupid animals, animals whose only purpose is to amuse humans. In this way, circuses teach disrespect for other living things.
Public Safety
Wild animals behave instinctively and unpredictably. Since 1990, several people have been killed and others injured by circus elephants and other animals pushed past their breaking point. Additionally, some circus elephants have been diagnosed with a human strain of tuberculosis, which can spread to spectators such as children who are taken on elephant rides.
After Performing
Circus-related injuries often result in premature death. The animals that survive the circus face a grim future. When circus owners decide that animals are no longer profitable, they are sent to winter quarters (i.e. traveling crates, barn stalls, or trucks) permanently or sold to:
When I worked as a civil rights activist with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., we sought justice through peaceful means. Under the leadership of Dr. King, I became totally committed to non-violence, and I was convinced that nonviolence meant opposition to killing in any form. When I look at animals held captive by circuses, I think of slavery. Animals in circuses represent the domination and oppression we have fought against for so long. They wear the same chains and shackles.
–Dick Gregory
You Can Help
-
Do not visit circuses that use animals.
-
Write to circuses and their sponsors and tell them that you do not want to see wild animals used in circuses, for the sake of the animals and the public.
-
Write letters to editors of local newspapers asking sponsors to stop supporting the circus.
-
Organize or attend a protest.
-
Ask your town to ban live animal acts.
-
Support legislation protecting circus animals.
-
Report any possible violations of state and local animal protection laws to the police and animal control.
(Some of the) Circuses that Do Not Use Animals
Cirque du Soleil
The New Pickle Family Circus
Bindlestiff Family Circus
Circus Millennia
Circus Smirkus
Cirque Eloize
Circus Oz
Mexican International Circus
|
