The Cruelty of Animal Circuses

When I was a kid, I was taken to the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus. Even at that age, I remember getting upset about the lion act: they were whipped, yelled at, and shoved around with chairs by Mr. Beatty just to get them to respond and make blood-curdling roars. As an adult, I watched Ringling Brothers circus animals perform, and got the same queasy feelings. But it would be many years before I became involved with animal advocacy, and so I just filed away my discomfort, thinking that I was overly sensitive and that circus animals were probably happy campers. But that was the last animal circus I attended. I discovered not long after that the animal-free (except for the willing human variety) Cirque du Soleil was much more fun to watch. And with every passing year, there are more animal-free circuses to choose from.

Now, after I've finally educated myself about (hu)man's inhumanity to animals-and it's a long, sad history-I realized that my uncomfortable feelings at the circus were actually justified; that, in fact, circus animals lead very difficult, unnatural, and painful lives.

A circus is probably coming to your area sometime this year. Why? Because the public likes to see performing animas-especially exotic animals-and if they happen to be beaten to make them perform, hey, they're "just" animals, after all (as if humans weren't). The tragedy is that people either don't realize or don't care about the abuse that goes on behind the scenes, which is carefully hidden from them in the glitzy, colorful performance arena.

Circus animals have been torn from their natural environments and family groups; "broken" with chains and whips; forced to live a life mostly on the road in cramped, filthy railroad cars or semis; imprisoned in cages that are too small; left in the sun to overheat, in the cold to freeze, or in the rain to get soaked; and given inadequate nutrition and veterinary care-among other horrors. They are prodded, poked, whipped, and jabbed with sharp objects and even slapped across the face to make them obey commands. They're often forced to perform despite injuries, chronic ailments like arthritis, and acute illness.

"Humane animal circus" is an oxymoron; by definition, an animal circus is cruel and abusive. Circus animals suffer, plain and simple.

The US Department of Agriculture is charged with inspecting the living conditions of circus animals, but because of an overworked staff and often just plain politics, it generally allows circuses to continue business as usual, enforcing only the most egregious violations (e.g., suspicious deaths and severely injured or sick animals). But often, the penalties are just a fine and a slap on the wrist to the perpetrators.

In the last few decades, over 50 captive elephants have run amok and killed or seriously injured their trainers or the public. Baby elephants in the wild remain with their mothers in family groups for at least fifteen years-depending on gender-and in that time learn survival techniques. Baby circus elephants are generally separated from their mothers (often their mothers and other relatives have been killed to get at the babies), and have to pretty much fend for themselves. One young circus elephant drowned in a pond because he'd lost his mother before she taught him how to swim.

A trainer in a prominent circus became angry at a tiger who wasn't "cooperating" and actually shot him five times point blank, killing him as he sat defenseless in his cage. In the same circus, a horse was forced to perform, though chronically ill, and collapsed and died in the circus parade. Circus bears are often de-clawed, or their front paws are burned in order to get them to stand erect. The horror stories go on and on.

What happens when circus animals become too old to perform anymore? As a retirement "reward" for all their hard work, aging animals are often sold to sleazy roadside zoos or canned hunting ranches, to end their miserable lives in dirty cages, stared at by the public, or as easy targets for "hunters" with shotguns.

What can you as a respecter of animals do to help? I'm glad you asked.

Boycott animal circuses and lend your support to animal rights circus demonstrations in your area. Urge your local government to pass an ordinance banning exotic animal acts in your town or city. Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper telling the truth about what goes on at animal circuses. Encourage animal-free circuses to visit your town; they're a lot more entertaining than watching imprisoned, abused animals performing degrading tricks, parading around a ring in silly costumes, or being whipped to get them to jump through flaming hoops.