Compassion Over Killing > Circuses: Cruelty for Profit

Circuses and other traveling animal acts go through a great deal of trouble to bring us such "entertainment" as tigers jumping through fire, elephants standing on their heads, and seals playing musical horns. However, the same circuses are desperate to hide the fact that the animals perform solely out of fear. In contrast to the glitter often associated with circuses, the life of most animals forced to perform is little more than a dismal and utterly pathetic existence.

Although animal exhibitors must be licensed by the USDA, the Department is often reluctant to enforce the bare minimum regulations called for by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Even when sanctions are taken against a particular circus, the punishment is often trivial, and the publicity even less. In just a two-year period, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was cited for 65 non-compliances with the AWA.¹

Training

As forcing animals to perform unnatural acts such as balancing on a high-wire or riding a bicycle is an extremely difficult feat, physical punishment and negative reinforcement are the norm in the world of animal training. In order to crush the spirits of newly captured elephants, they are tied down and subjected to routine beatings and other tortures on a daily basis, usually for up to one month, until they learn that there is no use in fighting back.

Unfortunately, this is not the last time physical abuse will be endured by performing animals. Rather, punishment and despair become a constant factor in their lives. According to former animal trainer Pat Derby, "After 25 years of observing and documenting circuses, I know that there are no kind animal trainers."² Even the world-famous trainer, Gunther Gebel-Williams, has been videotaped whipping animals.³ Trainers routinely use bullhooks, muzzles, whips, and electric prods to "encourage" animals to perform behaviorally unnatural—and many times uncomfortable—acts. Bears have their noses broken and their paws burned to "teach" them to walk on their hind legs. Elephants are controlled by the use of bullhooks on the sensitive areas of their skin, such as around their eyes and behind their knees and ears.

Traveling and Living

Animals in circuses travel up to 50 weeks each year. Tigers, horses, monkeys, elephants, and other animals used in circuses are confined to filthy railroad cars without temperature control (even in temperatures as high as 100 degrees and as low as freezing). In the cars, they are either chained or kept in confinements barely large enough to allow them to even turn around. The only times they are unshackled and brought out of the cars is to perform.

However, in between performances, the animals are once again returned to chains and cages. Such unrelieved confinement takes an enormous physical and psychological toll on the animals. A study conducted by the Born Free Foundation found that confined elephants spend approximately 22 percent of their time in abnormal actions such as head-bobbing or swaying, and that confined bears spend about 30 percent of their time pacing.⁴ This can only be due to the stress of constant traveling, confinement, and the always-present fear of a trainer nearby.

After Performing

Once animals have outlived their "usefulness" to circuses and other traveling animals acts, they are either relegated to permanent winter quarters (usually cages), or are sold to other circuses, roadside zoos, canned hunting facilities (to be shot for recreation), and sometimes even animal research laboratories. Still in confinement, most animals used in circuses live out their lives in the same misery they were subjected to during their performing years.

Striking Back

As abuse to animals in circuses rises, so does the frequency at which they begin to fight back. In 1994, Tyke, an African elephant, killed her trainer and injured 13 others before police shot her to death.⁵ In January 1998, Arnold, a tiger performing with Ringling Bros., attacked his trainer during a publicity photo session in Florida.⁶ As the public watched, Arnold wrestled his trainer to the ground and bit him in the head. Arnold and the other 11 tigers were forced back in their cages by workers using fire extinguishers and bullwhips. After Arnold had been returned to his cage (and therefore no longer posed a threat to anyone), his trainer returned with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot him five times, killing him. The USDA took no action against the trainer or Ringling Bros.

Incidents of animals lashing out at their trainers (especially elephants) are no longer uncommon. One police officer who had to kill a rampaging elephant states, "I think these elephants are trying to tell us that zoos and circuses are not what God created them for … but we have not been listening."⁷

In nature, elephants nurse their babies until they are four to six years old. When Kenny, an endangered baby Asian elephant was seized from his mother at age two, his life drastically changed. Sold to travel with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, he was taught certain tricks that were to become part of his "routine." Many speculate that his training methods involved routine beatings and other forms of negative reinforcement.

Two months into his second tour with Ringling Bros., Kenny fell ill. In between shows, he was chained along with two other babies, Juliet and Bonnie. Instead of giving Kenny a reprieve from the endless cycle of performances because of his illness, he was forced to act in two shows in Jackson, Florida. Just hours after the performances, he died. On April 16, 1998, the USDA cited Ringling Bros. for Kenny's untimely death as noncompliance with the Animal Welfare Act. This citation is just one of hundreds that Ringling Bros has received for its inhumane treatment of animals. In July 1998, Ringling Bros. agreed to pay a $20,000 fine to settle Kenny's case out of court, thereby avoiding an actual conviction.

What You Can Do

Circuses will stop using animals when we stop giving them our money. Boycott all circuses and traveling acts that use animals. Instead, support animal-free entertainment like Cirque du Soleil, Circus Oz, the New Pickle Circus, and Cirque d'Hiver.

Several communities have banned live animal acts in their area. Some include Quincy, Mass. and Hollywood, Fla.. Ask your city council to follow the path that these compassionate communities have blazed by creating an ordinance to outlaw animal acts.

Write letters to local papers encouraging people to boycott abusive events. If such an event does come to your town, organize a demonstration and distribute this fact sheet to your neighbors and patrons of the event.

	Testimony from an Insider
The following is a statement issued by former Ringling Bros. performer, Kelly Tansy: "On my very first day with the circus, I witnessed animal cruelty. I saw an elephant being beaten in what appeared to be a disciplinary action. The beating was so severe that the elephant screamed. I have come to realize, through all the circuses that I have worked for, that mistreatment of animals is a standard part of training and is thought to be a "necessary" part of exhibiting them. I have seen chimps locked in small cages constantly when not performing; elephants chained continuously; and even animals being beaten during performances. You won't find these quotes in circus programs anymore, but one well-known elephant trainer stated in the 1978 Ringling program that, according to his father, "An elephant trainer must have a strong back, a weak mind, and a savage disposition." Another trainer, when asked if it was necessary to use force and electricity to train an elephant said, "It sure as hell is. Don't let nobody tell you any different. It's the only way to deal with an elephant." Since leaving the circus, I have educated myself about natural animal behaviors. There is no way that an animal can even begin to fulfill a decent life while traveling on the road with the circus."⁸

References

To learn more about the use of animals in "entertainment," visit www.circuses.com.