Many of you have probably gone to the circus before. Amazed by the bright lights, tigers jumping through fire, elephants standing on their heads... It was probably a fascinating experience like nothing you've ever seen before, and you probably walked out with a huge smile on your face. It all seemed so happy and enchanting, right?
Well, contrary to popular belief, these circus animals won't willingly ride a bike, jump through fire, or perform any of those captivating little acts that they do to make the audience scream with joy. The trainers try to make it seem as if they have this magnificent bond with the wild animals, and that they are positively reinforced with food, toys, or praise. In actuality, it's quite the opposite.
These animals are stripped from their home in the wild and forced to do these tricks for the rest of their life. If that wasn't cruel enough already, circus management force the animals into violent training sessions in order to perform in the ring. The only reason these poor animals actually perform is because they are scared of what will happen if they don't.
Backstage, it is a whole different story. It's not all colorful and happy with laughter whispering through the air; these animals are immediately chained up and put through various levels of neglect, punishment, and deprivation. Circus animals have the right to be protected under the Animal Welfare Act, but common circuses, like Ringling Bros. and Carson & Barnes, are very obviously disregarding it. Investigators from animal protection groups, specifically PETA and LCA, performed several undercover investigations behind the scenes at these circuses. The investigations provided undisputable evidence of severe animal abuse, including heartbreaking videos and pictures. Below is a collection of a few vague, alarming facts collected and proved by PETA.
8 Unequivocal Circus Animal Abuse Facts Discovered by PETA
First off, the majority of the findings were centered on the harsh treatment of elephants. PETA has undercover video footage of elephants being whipped, beaten, yanked with heavy, sharp steel-tipped bull hooks, and shocked in the face with electric prods at Ringling Bros. prior to performing. Trainers must give them painful blows across the face and body to let them know who’s boss, so the animals do not disobey them during the show. Sensitive areas, such as the eyes, face, and knees, are often stricken with bull hooks in order to do what the trainers wanted. Carson & Barnes circus has even been reported for have using blow torches, baseball bats, and pitchforks on the elephants.
The sickening thing about it all, is that trainers do not just hit them to force them to perform- they take pride in hurting the animals and hearing them cry out in pain. A former employee at Carson & Barnes claims that there are ritual beating sessions on the elephants that last 30 minutes and just leave them on the floor screaming and bleeding profusely. He also testifies that trainers take joy in the beatings, and call out to the other trainers to “hurt ‘em” and “make ‘em scream.” Trainers are strictly warned to not beat the animals in public view.
The most disheartening of the abuse, in my opinion, is the horrible treatment of pregnant mother elephants and their babies. The trainers’ objective is to tear the baby away as soon as it comes out of the womb and subject it to violent sessions to learn performance acts immediately. PETA contains photographic and testimonial evidence of these procedures and the apparent “correction process,” in which baby elephants are “broken of their spirits” in the brutal process to reduce the craving for their mothers. During birth, the mother is chained by all four legs, as the baby is physically removed from her womb. The videos of this are devastatingly agonizing, as elephant mothers are supposed to take care of their young for the first decade. In order to “correct” them from wanting their mother, Ringling Bros. tie all four legs with rope to stretch them to the ground so they can perform faster. The removal causes the mother severe stress and denies the baby to ever have the normal life of an elephant with their mom.
But elephants aren't the only circus animals abused... Bears have their noses broken and paws burned in order to teach them to walk on their hind legs for the audience. Chimpanzees are drugged and have their teeth knocked out with hammers. Big cats are whipped and dragged by chains around their necks. Even horses are tortured with grabs to the throat, “lip twists,” pitchfork stabs, and even punches to the face. All of these painful practices are photographed and documented by PETA and LCA, but despite their efforts, officals STILL ignore it.
Circuses travel 11 months of the year, so circus animals are subjected to ongoing travel for most of their lives in boxcars or trailers. Ringling Bros and Carson & Barnes even brag that they fit all of the animals and equipment into three units as they travel 25,000 miles across the country every year. That means that the animals are all chained and squished together in one space. Ringling Bros itself even claims that elephants stay chained on an average of 26 hours straight during travel, and sometimes even 60-100 hours in one sitting. This confinement also subjects the animals to extreme weather conditions and many of times without food or water. Every animal cramped together must eat, drink, and excrete waste pretty much on top of each other in the small, filthy boxcars. Some animals, like lions, even freeze to death.
The result of the constant neglect and abuse of the wild animals is far from good. Many of severe psychological distress or depression, and others are very unhealthy and resort to aggression. Since 2000, over one hundred animals have escaped into the streets and have commonly ran into buildings or hurt random pedestrians. How could one blame them, although? With lives full of constant physical and emotional abuse and deprivation, it is no surprise that animals attempt to escape.
Protests by humane societies and animal rights groups happen all of the time, but STILL no government agency monitors circus training sessions. Despite the continuous evidence proving the circus' obvious violation of animal abuse laws, the only things that the government has enforced are fines and one staff member for the Animal Welfare Act. This is a start, but really the only way to COMPLETELY put an end to these harsh practices forever, is if people stop buying tickets to attend the events. Or even just a few at a time, every little person helps. Inform your friends of circus cruelty, and warn them not to go. Every ticket bought is just more and more support for the circus and every harsh practice that they do behind the public's eye. If more people are informed and stop buying tickets, the circus will eventually go out of business, and the animals could be put out of their misery.
If you really, really enjoy the chow at the circus and can't bear to let it go, take a look at some human performed circuses. As people begin to become informed of the animal based circuses' harsh practices and attendance declines, human based circuses are rising in popularity. The most popular one so far is called Cirque du Soleil. Actually having gone to one of their performances, I can say that it is pretty fascinating to watch, and animals do not have to suffer to put on the show. The more the new human circus trend grows, the more animal based circuses will decline. The innocent circus animals pay the price every time a ticket to the show is purchased. So remember, every ticket counts! Tell your friends and save an animal's life. For more info and videos, check out PETA's website below.
www.peta.org
Well, contrary to popular belief, these circus animals won't willingly ride a bike, jump through fire, or perform any of those captivating little acts that they do to make the audience scream with joy. The trainers try to make it seem as if they have this magnificent bond with the wild animals, and that they are positively reinforced with food, toys, or praise. In actuality, it's quite the opposite.
These animals are stripped from their home in the wild and forced to do these tricks for the rest of their life. If that wasn't cruel enough already, circus management force the animals into violent training sessions in order to perform in the ring. The only reason these poor animals actually perform is because they are scared of what will happen if they don't.
Backstage, it is a whole different story. It's not all colorful and happy with laughter whispering through the air; these animals are immediately chained up and put through various levels of neglect, punishment, and deprivation. Circus animals have the right to be protected under the Animal Welfare Act, but common circuses, like Ringling Bros. and Carson & Barnes, are very obviously disregarding it. Investigators from animal protection groups, specifically PETA and LCA, performed several undercover investigations behind the scenes at these circuses. The investigations provided undisputable evidence of severe animal abuse, including heartbreaking videos and pictures. Below is a collection of a few vague, alarming facts collected and proved by PETA.
8 Unequivocal Circus Animal Abuse Facts Discovered by PETA
- EVERY major circus that uses animals has been cited for violating the minimal standards of care set forth in the United States Animal Welfare Act.
- Virtually 96% of a circus animal’s life is spent in chains or cages.
- Circus animals spend 11 months of the year traveling, in which animals are caged or chained for long distances and hours, forced to stand in their own waste, in extreme temperatures.
- Trainers use whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bull hooks, and other painful tools of the trade to force circus animals into performing.
- Because of their forced immobility, the majority of circus animals develop arthritis and other joint problems that are never treated, so they must live through the chronic pain all throughout their life with no rest.
- Tigers naturally fear fire but are still forced to jump through fire hoops in most circuses.
- Since 1994, over 31 elephants have died premature deaths in circuses.
- Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (which enforces the AWA) have repeatedly ignored obvious physical trauma to animals, eye witness accounts of mistreatment, and sworn testimony from former circus employees who report animal abuse.
First off, the majority of the findings were centered on the harsh treatment of elephants. PETA has undercover video footage of elephants being whipped, beaten, yanked with heavy, sharp steel-tipped bull hooks, and shocked in the face with electric prods at Ringling Bros. prior to performing. Trainers must give them painful blows across the face and body to let them know who’s boss, so the animals do not disobey them during the show. Sensitive areas, such as the eyes, face, and knees, are often stricken with bull hooks in order to do what the trainers wanted. Carson & Barnes circus has even been reported for have using blow torches, baseball bats, and pitchforks on the elephants.
The sickening thing about it all, is that trainers do not just hit them to force them to perform- they take pride in hurting the animals and hearing them cry out in pain. A former employee at Carson & Barnes claims that there are ritual beating sessions on the elephants that last 30 minutes and just leave them on the floor screaming and bleeding profusely. He also testifies that trainers take joy in the beatings, and call out to the other trainers to “hurt ‘em” and “make ‘em scream.” Trainers are strictly warned to not beat the animals in public view.
The most disheartening of the abuse, in my opinion, is the horrible treatment of pregnant mother elephants and their babies. The trainers’ objective is to tear the baby away as soon as it comes out of the womb and subject it to violent sessions to learn performance acts immediately. PETA contains photographic and testimonial evidence of these procedures and the apparent “correction process,” in which baby elephants are “broken of their spirits” in the brutal process to reduce the craving for their mothers. During birth, the mother is chained by all four legs, as the baby is physically removed from her womb. The videos of this are devastatingly agonizing, as elephant mothers are supposed to take care of their young for the first decade. In order to “correct” them from wanting their mother, Ringling Bros. tie all four legs with rope to stretch them to the ground so they can perform faster. The removal causes the mother severe stress and denies the baby to ever have the normal life of an elephant with their mom.
But elephants aren't the only circus animals abused... Bears have their noses broken and paws burned in order to teach them to walk on their hind legs for the audience. Chimpanzees are drugged and have their teeth knocked out with hammers. Big cats are whipped and dragged by chains around their necks. Even horses are tortured with grabs to the throat, “lip twists,” pitchfork stabs, and even punches to the face. All of these painful practices are photographed and documented by PETA and LCA, but despite their efforts, officals STILL ignore it.
Circuses travel 11 months of the year, so circus animals are subjected to ongoing travel for most of their lives in boxcars or trailers. Ringling Bros and Carson & Barnes even brag that they fit all of the animals and equipment into three units as they travel 25,000 miles across the country every year. That means that the animals are all chained and squished together in one space. Ringling Bros itself even claims that elephants stay chained on an average of 26 hours straight during travel, and sometimes even 60-100 hours in one sitting. This confinement also subjects the animals to extreme weather conditions and many of times without food or water. Every animal cramped together must eat, drink, and excrete waste pretty much on top of each other in the small, filthy boxcars. Some animals, like lions, even freeze to death.
The result of the constant neglect and abuse of the wild animals is far from good. Many of severe psychological distress or depression, and others are very unhealthy and resort to aggression. Since 2000, over one hundred animals have escaped into the streets and have commonly ran into buildings or hurt random pedestrians. How could one blame them, although? With lives full of constant physical and emotional abuse and deprivation, it is no surprise that animals attempt to escape.
Protests by humane societies and animal rights groups happen all of the time, but STILL no government agency monitors circus training sessions. Despite the continuous evidence proving the circus' obvious violation of animal abuse laws, the only things that the government has enforced are fines and one staff member for the Animal Welfare Act. This is a start, but really the only way to COMPLETELY put an end to these harsh practices forever, is if people stop buying tickets to attend the events. Or even just a few at a time, every little person helps. Inform your friends of circus cruelty, and warn them not to go. Every ticket bought is just more and more support for the circus and every harsh practice that they do behind the public's eye. If more people are informed and stop buying tickets, the circus will eventually go out of business, and the animals could be put out of their misery.
If you really, really enjoy the chow at the circus and can't bear to let it go, take a look at some human performed circuses. As people begin to become informed of the animal based circuses' harsh practices and attendance declines, human based circuses are rising in popularity. The most popular one so far is called Cirque du Soleil. Actually having gone to one of their performances, I can say that it is pretty fascinating to watch, and animals do not have to suffer to put on the show. The more the new human circus trend grows, the more animal based circuses will decline. The innocent circus animals pay the price every time a ticket to the show is purchased. So remember, every ticket counts! Tell your friends and save an animal's life. For more info and videos, check out PETA's website below.
www.peta.org