These animals often live in filthy and dilapidated enclosures, Stabled or are Chained in one position for the majority of the day or after their services are over for that day. Animals have no chance to move, let alone express their full range of natural behaviors or to socialize with other members of their species.  Carriage Horses, circus animals and zoo animals are also not socialized just worked many hours.

$150,000 Fine for Cole Bros. Circus and Freedom for Tina and Jewel

What an expensive web we weave when we exploit animals out of greed. A U.S. District Court in Beaumont, Texas, slapped Cole Bros. Circus with a $150,000 fine and four years of probation for illegally selling two endangered Asian elephants, a violation of the Endangered Species Act.

The court also handed Cole Bros. owner John Pugh 300 hours of community service, three years of probation, a $4,000 fine, and a mandatory $1,200 payment to an organization working toward conservation and rehabilitation of Asian elephants. Former Cole Bros. employee Wilbur Davenport, who bought elephants Tina and Jewel from the circus, received 300 hours of community service, three years of probation, and a $5,200 fine.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confiscated Jewel from Davenport, and he then surrendered Tina, allowing the USDA to transport both elephants to the San Diego Zoo. While life in a zoo isn't ideal for Tina and Jewel, it is far better than traveling in a circus and being forced to perform. It is also substantially better than the life that Davenport had planned for the pair—giving elephant rides and making party appearances.

PETA has been following Cole Bros.' pervasive abuse of animals for years. We could only be happier about the punishment if Pugh and Davenport were also sentenced to years of giving piggyback rides at birthday parties to screaming children dropping slushies into their hair.

To read more: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/150-000-fine-for-cole-bros-circus

Animal Cruelty

Entertainment Animals

NYC Carriage Horse Industry

      When you think about horses, where do you imagine them? Nature has shown us that they need room to move and pasture in which to graze. Horses are social animals and spend much of their time grazing together. New York City carriage horses live and work under conditions far removed from what nature intended and humanity dictates.

Our Position
Facts about New York City's Carriage Horse Industry
What Is the ASPCA's Role in Monitoring Carriage Horses?
Reporting Carriage Horse Cruelty
How You Can Help

Our Position

The ASPCA believes that carriage horses were never meant to live and work in today's urban setting. In addition to the dangers of working in congested areas, these horses spend their days directly behind cars, trucks and buses, inhaling their fumes. Given the constraints and challenges that New York City presents, and as the primary enforcer of New York City's carriage horse laws, the ASPCA does not believe New York City can meet the needs of its horses. Neither the New York City environment nor the current law can provide horses with the fundamental necessities to ensure their safety and well being.

For all of these reasons, the ASPCA is a supporter of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets (NYCLASS), an organization dedicated to improving New York City's quality of life through education and advocacy. NYCLASS advocates viable alternatives to carriage horses that will not only relieve the City government of its financial burden, but will also avoid the safety and quality of life issues caused by the carriage horse industry.

The ASPCA supports Intro. 86, Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito's legislation to phase out carriage horses in New York City, replacing horse drawn carriages with alternative, fuel-powered classic cars. These cars can provide rides for tourists, offer jobs to workers currently in the carriage horse industry and maintain the historic feel of the tours.

Facts about New York City's Carriage Horse Industry

• There are now approximately 204 carriage horses in the city and approximately 300 licensed operators.
• These horses are permitted to work nine hours a day, seven days a week.
• There are no pastures for grazing, no opportunities to roll in the dirt, lie in the sun, run or socialize with an equine companion.
• It is illegal for a driver to operate a carriage when the temperature is 90 degrees F or above, or 18 degrees F or below. No adjustment is made to account for wind chill or the humidity index.
• After three carriage horses died during a heat wave in the summer of 1988, New York City Councilmembers approved a law that greatly restricted when and where these horses were worked. But in 1994, the law was weakened by lengthening the hours that the horses are allowed to work and enlarging the areas in which the horses are permitted to travel including more of traffic-congested midtown Manhattan.

What Is the ASPCA's Role in Monitoring Carriage Horses?

To ensure that carriage horses enjoy a better quality of life, the ASPCA Government Affairs department works on legislation that seeks to improve the health, safety and well-being of all New York City carriage horses

Furthermore, ASPCA equine experts within the Humane Law Enforcement Department exclusively monitor the carriage horses in Central Park—issuing citations for infractions and investigating allegations of abuse and neglect. As long as carriage horses continue to operate, the ASPCA will continue to enforce the law to its full extent.

Reporting Carriage Horse Abuse

A team of equine experts within the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Department monitor the care and working conditions of New York City's carriage and riding horses. Our Agents rely on concerned citizens to report incidents or issues with the care and conditions of NYC's carriage horses that they may witness. The following tips will help you report suspected carriage horse problems:

• The two most important pieces of information to provide is the time of the incident and the carriage license plate, a 4-digit number located on the back of the carriage. With the time and number, we can track down the horse and driver involved.
• Other helpful information can include: color of horse, color of carriage, location of incident and hoof brand number of horse.
• To report carriage horse cruelty or neglect, contact us at enforcement@aspca.org or (212) 876-7700, ext. 4450. After business hours, you will be transferred to a voice messaging system and your call will be returned by an on-duty agent.

How You Can Help

• If you are a resident of NYC, show your support by contacting your Councilmember and asking him or her to support Intro. 86, the humane and safe alternative to the carriage horse industry. If you do not know your councilperson's name, call the ASPCA Government Relations department at (212) 876-7700, ext. 4550.
• If you are from out of town, please write to the mayor to voice your concern and keep updated by visiting our website at ASPCA.org.
• If you witness any abuse to a carriage horse, write down the license plate number found on the back of the carriage, the time and location, along with the color of the horse or any distinguishing markings, and, if possible, the horse's hoof number, which is branded on the front left hoof. Then call (212) 876-7700, ext. 4450, to report it. The ASPCA will promptly alert a Humane Law Enforcement Agent to go to the scene.

For more information on the carriage horse industry, visit NYCLASS. To stay up-to-date on important calls to action, visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center.

Circus Animal Welfare

The MSPCA is opposed to wild animals in circuses and traveling wild animal acts because of the suffering they cause to the animals and because of the false picture given of the animals displayed. Quincy, Revere, Braintree, Weymouth, Provincetown, and Somerville, MA have all passed ordinances prohibiting circuses within their boundaries.

Why are we concerned about wild animals in circuses?
Few legal protections exist for animals who are displayed in circuses. On the federal level, the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) requires that minimum standards of care and treatment be provided to warm-blooded animals traveling with circuses. However, violations of the AWA are an everyday occurrence in circuses.

Animals in circuses spend up to  11 months of the year traveling. For thousands of hours, over long distances, they may be chained, transported in vehicles that lack climate control, and forced to stand or lie in their own waste.

Performing animals such as elephants, lions, and tigers endure years of physical and psychological suffering in traveling acts. The tricks that animals are forced to perform - night after night - are frightening, unnatural, and even painful. Standard circus industry practice is to use bullhooks and other objects to poke, prod, strike, shock, and hit animals in order to "train" them — all for a few moments of human amusement.

The inherent cruelty of traveling almost every week a year, forced separation of herds and babies, being chained while not performing, restrictive caging, and coercive training methods are just a few of the reasons why the MSPCA opposes the use of wild animals in circuses.
Sometimes the animals respond aggressively to this abuse, injuring their handlers, trainers, and even the public.  They occasionally escape from their train cars or their temporary enclosures, risking potentially fatal traffic accidents and injuries to themselves and others.  For a list of circus animal incidents, see Born Free USA United with Animal Protection Institute’s website. There has not yet been a recorded incident in Massachusetts, but there is no reason it couldn’t happen here.  Undoubtedly, the problems that lead to these incidents happen everywhere.  

Circuses using animals often boast that they are working to conserve endangered species in the wild and are educating the public about these animals. There is far more money to be made in breeding endangered animals for public display and performance than in addressing the real issues, such as habitat degradation, that threaten wild populations. Endangered animals born in circus "conservation" programs have never been released into the wild.

How You Can Help
Below are five ways in which you can help stop the suffering of wild animals in circuses.

1) Do not attend circuses that feature wild animals or participate in wild animal "rides". Instead choose animal-free circuses or visit animal sanctuaries.  Find a list here. Learn more about elephant rides.

2) Learn more about animal protection, animal habitats and circuses by visiting the following organizations' websites:   http://www.elephants.com/, http://www.pawsweb.org/,  http://www.hsus.org/, http://www.bornfreeusa.org/.

3) Spread the word. Educate your relatives, friends, co-workers and local businesses about your research. Encourage them to take a stand against circuses.  Ask your friends to visit this webpage and take action, too!

4) Support legislation to ban the use of the bullhook and chains for elephants who are part of circuses and traveling animal acts in Massachusetts.   Visit our legislation webpage for more information and to take action. 
 
5) Support Local Bans. You can help stop circuses that feature wild animals from coming to your town by working to pass a local ordinance which restricts wild animal acts. Quincy, Revere, Braintree, Weymouth, Provincetown, and Somerville, Mass. have all passed ordinances prohibiting circuses within their boundaries.  Contact us at advocacy@mspca.org to find out how or download our Local Action Kit.

 http://www.mspca.org/programs/animal-protection-legislation/animal-welfare/circus/circus-animal-welfare.html

Animal Abuse

The harsh treatment of animals in circuses has spawned protests by humane societies and animal rights groups, which have focused on abusive training and handling practices, the constant confinement endured by the animals, and the dangers that animal circuses pose to the public.

Training methods for animals used in circuses involve varying degrees of punishment and deprivation. Animals perform not because they want to but because they’re afraid not to. In the United States, no government agency monitors animal training sessions.

Former Ringling animal crew employees Archele Hundley and Bob Tom contacted PETA independently after witnessing what they described as routine animal abuse in the circus, including a 30-minute beating of an elephant in Tulsa, Okla., that left the animal screaming and bleeding profusely from her wounds. Hundley and Tom reported that elephants are chained whenever they are out of public view and are forced to perform while sick or injured. They also reported that horses are grabbed by the throat, stabbed with pitchforks, punched in the face, given painful “lip twists,” and whipped. Other Ringling whistleblowers have confirmed these abuses.

h electric prods, striking big cats with whips and sticks and dragging them by heavy chains tied around their necks, smacking and prodding bears with long poles, and kicking chimpanzees and beating them with riding crops.

Animals used in circuses may travel thousands of miles a year during extreme weather conditions. They are confined to boxcars and trailers and have no access to basic necessities, such as food, water, and veterinary care. Some elephants spend most of their lives in shackles. One study of traveling circuses reported on an elephant who was forced to spend up to 96 percent of her time in chains. Tigers and lions usually live and travel in cages that are four feet high, seven feet long, and seven feet wide, with two big cats crammed into a single cage. Big cats, bears, and primates are forced to eat, drink, sleep, defecate, and urinate in the same cramped cages.

Constant travel, forced inactivity, and long hours standing on hard surfaces in their own waste lead to serious health problems and early death in captive elephants. At least 25 elephants with Ringling have died since 1992, including four babies. Circuses routinely tear unweaned baby elephants from their mothers to be trained and sent on the road.

Escapes and Attacks
There have been hundreds of incidents involving animal attacks and escapes from animal circuses, often resulting in property damage, injuries, and death for both humans and animals.

Perhaps the most dramatic animal attack involved Tyke, an elephant traveling with Circus International in Honolulu in 1994. In an hour-long episode, Tyke killed her trainer and caused injuries to more than a dozen people. Police fired 87 bullets into Tyke before finally killing her. This was not the first time that Tyke had acted out; she had previously caused $10,000 in damage during a Shrine Circus performance in Altoona, Pa., and attacked a trainer in North Dakota, breaking two of his ribs.

Other attacks by elephants, big cats, primates, and bears are common but haven’t received as much media attention because they are rarely videotaped. Many circuses, including Ringling, do not allow video cameras in the arena. In order to avoid publicity, circuses are often quick to settle lawsuits that allege injuries.

Circus Bans
More than a dozen municipalities in the United States have banned performances that feature wild animals. Costa Rica, Sweden, Singapore, Finland, India, and Austria ban or restrict wild animal performances nationwide. Districts in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, and Greece ban some or all animal acts. PETA has been campaigning in the United States for specific bans on the most abusive circus practices, including chaining elephants and using training tools that cause pain and suffering, such as bullhooks and electric prods.

http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2007/10/circuses-are-no-fun-for-animals-2/

Why We Protest The Circus

• Because animal acts like these are neither educational nor uplifting. Instead, they warp our perceptions of animals, desensitize us to the animals' real nature and needs, and in the process, diminish us as human beings. • Because all animals, non-human and human alike, share one basic right: the right to live their lives freely and in harmony with their own nature. Circuses deny animals that right. • Because the circus demeans animals, robbing them of their natural dignity. Consider the monkeys of the Ringling Brothers- Barnum & Bailey Circus, dressed as clowns and forced to dance, mug, and become the butt of silly, often vulgar jokes. Or look at the Asian elephants, so majestic and intelligent in nature, but forced by their trainers to wear feathers and sequins and walk on their hind legs. (Such tricks are not only demeaning, they're dangerous. Walking on the hind legs can cause a large, balloon-like swelling around the elephant's rectum area. This intense pressure often leads to painful rectal hernias that can cause death.) • Because, according to Pat Derby, a former animal trainer who worked in the television and motion picture industry for more than 20 years, cruel negative reinforcement is an integral part of animal training. During her career, she watched in horror as elephants were electroshocked in the ears, mouth, and anus, and bears had their noses broken and feet burned so that trainers could establish dominance. Other training devices include whips, muzzles, and tight collars. • Because circus animals travel long distances on a booking agent's grueling schedule, often confined for 20 hours a day in small cages. • Because circus animals never have a chance to satisfy their natural needs. Imagine tigers who can never hunt or run at full speed, elephants unable to take a mud bath, bears who can never hunt or roam in the woods, and chimpanzees who can never climb real trees. Instead, circus animals are made to perform painful, dangerous, abnormal stunts for our "amusement." • Because there are humane, entertaining, alternatives, like the critically-acclaimed Cirque de Soleil from Quebec, and the fabled Peking Acrobats, both of which reject animal acts in favor of more creative big-top entertainment. • Because animals can't speak for themselves. We must speak for them. • Elephants in the wild live in family groups and travel 20-50 miles per day on foot, stopping for mud baths along the way to keep their skin cool. Animal Cruelty and Circus Vargas • Circus Vargas elephant lies chained to a truck. These animals spend 95% of their lives in chains or in trucks, moved from city to city for decades. • Circus Vargas has been out of compliance with government regulations pertaining to humane animal care at least 40 times over the past five years.  • Animals in circuses perform from fear of punishment, which is why whips and/or bullhooks are used as "reminders" during certain performances. • Behind-the-scenes training sessions of animals are brutal with "make 'em or break 'em" methods employed which involve numerous physical and psychological abuses. • Animals are transported for hundreds of miles in unheated, un-airconditioned trailers through all weather conditions. In cold climates animals have frozen to death and they have succumbed to heat prostration in warm climates. • There are alternative circuses without animals, such as the critically acclaimed “Cirque de Soleil” from Quebec, and 12 others who reject exotic animals acts in favor of more creative big-top entertainment.

Ringling Bros.: An Inhumane Circus Contrary to their PR rhetoric, Ringling Brothers has a long, sordid history of animal mistreatment. Consider: •  In January, 1998 Ringling (RB) forced Kenny, a baby elephant, to perform even though he was known to be ill. Kenny died hours later. Also in January, RB trainer Graham Chipperfield killed a caged tiger with 5 shotgun blasts after the animal earlier attacked another trainer. •  RB told the LA Times that animals are "never trained with whips and beatings" even though they had been caught on videotape beating elephants and had even struck elephants in front of government inspectors. •  RB has been out of compliance with minimal government standards for humane animal care well over 80 times during the past 7 years. This includes keeping dogs in boxes so small that "they could not stand, sit or lie down," and for a lack of exercise plans and veterinary records. Expired drugs have been found in RB's pharmacy trailer on at least 3 occasions. •  Federal inspectors reported that RB has transported animals in railcars with "torn jagged metal... leaving sharp points and edges- (and) the floor of (the) rail was in severe disrepair." The Truth About Sterling & Reid and Other Circuses •  On April 3, 1998, Sterling & Reid had eight horses confiscated by the San Bernardino Humane Society for being severely underweight. The circus is now being charged with 8 counts of animal cruelty. •  In August 1997, an elephant with King Royal Circus died from heat prostration in a raging hot trailer car. •  When not performing, which is 90% of the time, elephants in circuses are chained by the leg and. rock/sway from frustration, anger and boredom--or are restrained via electrical fencing. •  Circus animals perform from fear of punishment which is why whips and bullhooks are used as reminders during certain performances. •  Behind the scenes, training sessions of animals in circuses are brutal with "make or break'em" methods employed which involve numerous physical and psychological abuses. •  At the conclusion of their performing days, animals have been sold to game preserves to be hunted, zoos, menageries and even medical experimentation. There is no Justice, Just Us! Please direct any questions or comments to adlla@animaldefense.com Facts page <click here>

http://www.animaldefense.com/Circus.html

Should animals be banned from the circus?

What would you rather see at the circus - a clown putting his head in a tiger's mouth or someone lifting weights with their nipples? Bizarre human performers seem to be replacing the use of animals in big top shows. Non-animal acts like the Circus of Horrors and the world famous Montreal-based troupe Cirque de Soleil both draw in big audiences. Some might say this is hardly surprising after this week's conviction of leading circus trainer Mary Chipperfield, 61, for animal cruelty.

She was convicted of 12 counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an 18-month-old chimp called Trudy, who was repeatedly beaten with a riding crop. Now she is applying to have the chimp returned to her training centre.

Do you think the use of performing animals is tasteless?

Animal rights campaigners are highly critical of the lack of circus regulation, including the Chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on animal welfare, Ian Cawsey.

"It has got to the stage when it doesn't matter what the law is, you are never going to satisfactorily look after exotic and wild animals in the circus and really the whole practice should be ended," he said.

However Gerry Cottle, of the Circus of Horrors, thinks there are people who still believe animals are an integral part of the circus.

"Even with our radical circus we still get people saying it is not the same and asking where the elephants are," he said.

What do you think?

Should animals be banned from the circus?

Pictured: Harrowing ordeal of the baby elephants bound and beaten to become circus stars.

By Paul Harris

Pulled to the ground by a web of ropes, a baby elephant learns the hard way how to become a circus performer.In case the youngster doesn't want to co-operate, a trainer stands by with one of the sharp metal hooks used to manage the animals. The disturbing picture is one of a series taken by a former trainer which campaigners say reveal the brutal reality of how elephants are prepared for circus work.

Trussed: Bound by its neck, legs and trunk and watched by a man with a hook, a baby elephant learns to lie down

Down: A trainer manages the animal with a sharp metal hook

The pictures show them being dragged to the ground by ropes, chained side by side, pinned down by a hook in the back of the neck and checked by cattleprods.  Peta - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - say the elephants are also separated from their mothers by force.

Teamwork? A group of handlers hold the baby elephant with ropes

'Torture': Peta - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - says the methods are widespread

The photographs are being used to spearhead a campaign to tighten up laws on the use of wild beasts in circuses.  The Government here is considering legislation to impose stricter conditions on their care, training and performance, particularly where young are concerned.

Campaign: The photos are being used to spearhead an effort to tighten laws over the use of wild beasts in circuses

Revealed: A handler who died last month asked Peta to use the images to ease his conscience after he'd gone

The pictures were taken in the U.S. by handler Sammy Haddock, who worked for the Ringling Bros' Barnum and Bailey Circus until 2005.  They were taken more than seven years ago - but Peta says such methods are widespread, and 'effectively amount to the torture of defenceless animals'.

Stark: Baby elephants are bound in a barn

Two against one: The anchor elephant is trained in a barn

Haddock died last month and asked Peta to use his pictures to ease his conscience about the kind of treatment he administered during eight years at the Ringling centre in Florida. Peta director Poorva Joshipura said: 'All the evidence suggests that the methods described by Sam Haddock are standard operating procedures.'

Dedicated areas: The lying down outdoor training area (l) and sitting up area (r)

Ringling's dismisses Peta's claims as 'from the last century' and denies cruelty. It says it separates calves from adults only when they are old enough to demonstrate natural independence.

Unnatural: The outdoor training area where elephants learn to stand on their head

Grimace: A baby elephant is trained to sit on a tub

New York City Carriage Horses

Animals’ Angels received from an unknown source video and picture documentation of several different carriage horse barns in New York City. The pictures reveal what carriage horses in New York are facing each day: After a long working shift the horses at Westside Livery return to a dark and narrow stable. They are then tied up and unable to turn around in the tiny pens. Several of the horses are emaciated, many have marks on their bodies, others have extremely poor feet.  In the morning, the horses are brought out over steep ramps and forced to fight their way to Central Park through heavy traffic. The documentation obtained will be used to support the initative to ban carriage horses in New York.

To see if you can help: http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/hdc-conditions.html

Attendees of the infamous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus got more than they bargained for during an afternoon performance on October 26, at Cleveland's Gund Arena. Mercy For Animals member Mandie Jones of Cleveland stunned an unexpecting audience of thousands when she stormed the center ring of the World's largest circus with a banner reading "Ringling Tortures Animals" to protest the circus's long history of animal abuse. Security quickly grabbed Jones and arrested her on charges of criminal trespassing. The disruption grabbed newspaper headlines and focused the spotlight of Cleveland's media on the abuse of animals under the big top.

Although the Ringling Bros. public relations department has been working overtime to deceive the public into believing that animals imprisoned in the circus are "treated like family," no amount of false propaganda can sanitize the circus’s horrific record of animal neglect. Ringling Bros. Circus has failed to meet minimal federal standards for the care of animals used in exhibition as established in the Animal Welfare Act. Ringling paid $20,000 to settle U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) charges of failing to provide veterinary care to a dying baby elephant. The USDA has also cited Ringling for failure to possess records of veterinary care, failure to provide animals with sufficient space, failure to provide animals with exercise, and endangering tigers who were nearly baked alive in a boxcar because of poor maintenance of their enclosures. In less than two years, two baby elephants died, a caged tiger was shot to death, a horse who was used despite a chronic medical condition died during Ringling’s traditional animal march, and a wild-caught sea lion was found dead in her transport container. Click here to view Ringling’s long history of animal abuse.

In contrast to the glitter associated with circuses, performing animals' lives are pretty miserable. Because animals do not naturally ride bicycles, stand on their heads, or jump through rings of fire, whips, electric prods, and other tools are often used to force them to perform.

Tigers and lions, who would naturally secure a territory of 75 to 2,000 square miles, are usually forced to live and travel in cages only 4 feet by 6 feet by 5 feet. Early in their training, according to Henry Ringling North in his book The Circus Kings, the big cats are "chained to their pedestals, and ropes are put around their necks to choke them down. They work from fear." Bears may have their noses broken while being trained or have their paws burned to force them to stand on their hind legs.

Elephants, who in their natural environment would live in socially complex family herd, are chained by one or both front and hind legs during training sessions, transport, and often between shows. Trainers beat elephants with razor sharp bullhooks to force the animals to perform dangerous and confusing acts. Inadequate exercise and prolonged standing in wet, unsanitary conditions may lead to foot problems such as foot rot, and infected cuticles.

In sworn testimony, Tom Rider, a former Ringling Bros. elephant barn-keeper, stated:

“After my three years working with elephants in the circus, I can tell you that they live in confinement and they are beaten all the time when they don't perform properly.”

Other former Ringling Bros. employees have also spoken out against animal cruelty that occurred behind the scenes. Former Ringling performer Kelly Tansy has this to say:

“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.’"

Click picture to see video :
 

What you can do

Boycott circuses that enslave animals. The exploitation and abuse of animals held captive in the circus will end only when compassionate individuals stop supporting them. Families seeking circus entertainment can still enjoy the many sights and sounds without supporting animal cruelty. The number of wonderful circuses that use only willing, paid human performers, such as Cirque du Soleil, Circus Oz, the New Pickle Circus, and Cirque d'Hiver are growing in both size and popularity. Click here for a complete list of animal-free circuses.

http://www.mercyforanimals.org/clevelandringlingdisruption.asp

Bear attack at Russian circus

A tragic incident took place at the circus of the city of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. A bear attacked two people during rehearsals. The animal killed one person and mauled another one. The bear was shot dead. The bear attacked the animal trainer and the administration of the Russian ice circus, which was on tour in Kyrgyzstan. The performance was titled "Bears on Ice," Pravda.Ru reports.

"The reason for the animal's aggression is not known. The director of the circus asked the police to shoot the animal dead afterwards," a source at local law-enforcement authorities said. It is worthy of note that bears, unlike feline predators, never show any signs of their intention to attack. The administrator of the circus troupe, a 25-year-old man identified as Dmitry Potapov, died of severe injuries. The animal trainer, Yevgeny Popov, 29, was hospitalized in severe condition.

Baby Elephant Used by Ringling Has Deadly Virus

Barack, a baby elephant forced to perform with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, is suffering from a deadly herpes virus that Ringling may have been able to prevent. Please help baby Barack now! Learn More

Undercover Investigation Reveals That Ringling Beats Elephants

Baby Elephants Bound With Ropes by Ringling

Tell Mom Central to Stand Up for Mother Elephants

'Ringling Beats Animals' Updates

• Ringling Kills Runaway Zebra
• What's Elephant for 'Ringling Beats Animals'?
• Terrified Zebra Escapes Ringling's Circus in Atlanta
• Elephant Runs Amok at Ringling Pre-Show

More Updates

Tell Everyone: Ringling Beats Animals!

Not A Good Message

Many of the animals used in this type of entertainment are facing extinction in the wild. What kind of message are we delivering to our youth if we continue to cage wild animals and force them to perform tricks for our amusement?

If you love the idea of the circus, there are always animal-free options, where performers actually get to choose their work. Teach your children to respect animals, and enlist their support for boycotting circuses that have animal acts – do it for the animals.

If all of that doesn’t convince you, perhaps these 12 reasons will…

Humanity’s acceptance of Performing Elephants

Mike Jaynes

The University of Tennesee at Chattanooga

            People usually have fond memories of the circus, and that's the problem anti animal circus activists face. It is difficult to convince an adult to abandon an activity that has long been considered a worthy and positive family tradition. It is this positive aspect of the tradition that should be called into question. And in enters the old enemy, ignorance. Plenty of forms of suffering have pleasing facades, and it is education that will lead us to the truth. The ethical disconnect between the spangled elephant performer and the chained and miserable off stage elephant existence exists simply due to ignorance. I attended circuses before I knew the specifics of them as well. In fact, my life long love of elephants stems from an elephant ride I took as a young boy of 6 or 7 at a small circus in my hometown. Indeed most Americans' exposure to elephants solely occurs in zoos or circuses. Now it is time we considered these great creatures and asked about the specifics of their lives we do not see, the times spent not in the spangles and the rings and the lights but in the chains, tiny enclosures, and unendurable isolation. Another quick note: this is intended to be a very brief introduction to the plight of performing elephants. For more details, please seek out places such as PAWS (Performing Animal Welfare Society), Circuses.com, or Elephants.com.

            To understand why circuses are such a negative experience for elephants, one must know a few things about their habits in the wild and their conditions in the ring.  Elephants often weigh upwards of 11,000 pounds and they do not naturally stand on two feet or balance on small platforms in the wild, contrary to what information circulated by circus suggest. Circuses ensure potential circus goers that they tricks the elephants perform are based around natural behaviors observed in the wild. Rest assured, elephants did not evolve to support their massive weight on their front two legs. This is abuse and in fact leg and foot problems are a leading cause of death for elephants who spend long hours standing on cold concrete, often in their own excrement, or support their weight on two legs at a time. One can look to the tragic story of Stoney the elephant, who performed in the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas under the horrendous care of his abusive and now deceased trainer Mike La Torres, to see what happens to elephants forced to repeatedly stand on two legs. If people were aware of these terrible abuses to which circus elephants are submitted, inherent human ethics of compassion would affect many humans and the demand for circuses would wane. Applying economic pressure seems to be the only sanction America understands. Education could one day create a social sanction, and that is surely slowly occouring, but for now removing monies from the animal circus owners is the best way to help these elephants and to break the ethical disconnect caused by ignorance of these great beasts’ plight.

            Much has been written about the training of circus elephants. In order to get them to do such "tricks" for our amusement often trainers will burn their front feet with blowtorches or inflict other terrible amounts of pain as persuasion. When you see elephants performing, it is not because they love to do it or that the tricks are exaggerated extensions of natural behaviors. They perform these tricks because they are in fear and know they will be punished if they do not perform. Undercover video has been taken, and you can view one such trainer and his horrendously painful techniques on Circuses.com in order to not solely rely on my, admittedly, very passionate word.

            Elephants have skin as sensitive as humans -we know they can sense when a fly lands on their back -but the cruel training practices are not the most disturbing aspect of captive performing elephant life, according to some. In the wild, elephants will often walk 30-50 miles a day for no apparent reason other than the walking. They like to walk, and we do not have the right to deprive them of their walking. Elephant researchers have ascertained they often are not motivated by food searching or mating instincts; they simply seem to love to walk. When not performing, most Elephants are kept chained in a space no bigger than an automobile or enclosed in special pens lined with electric fences that are millions of times smaller than their natural behavior. When chained in such a tiny enclosure, elephants often display stereotypic behavior, such as swaying from foot to foot and trunk waving. Researchers feel these stereotypies are brought on by extreme boredom, isolation, and they often display behaviors often witnessed in mentally ill humans. Even if this is conjecture by concerned Animal Rights Activists (ARAs) such as myself (which is not the case), it is a fact that these behaviors have never been observed in the wild. 

            During touring season (nine months a year) Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth has been reported to keep its elephants chained for up to 20 hours a day. And it's not just Ringling, and it's not just circuses. Zoos, unfortunately for those of us who would truly love to see and visit elephants, are often just as bad. This article focuses on circuses, but keep in mind that elephants are only suited to live on expansive, thousand acre sanctuaries or in the wild. It is true elephants face human dangers in the wild; however, to keep these great beasts in captivity it to create an inhumane crime.

            Children are understandably amused by the elephants, and they love to see them do their tricks. However, adults need to realize the complex needs of these creatures are -at best- not fully understood by us. Perhaps it is simply me, but it seems but everyone has fun at the circus except elephants and other performing animals.  My question is simple: how does sitting on a chair and wearing spangled headdresses in any way appreciate the natural needs of these animals? And my other question -which tends to be more controversial for some reason- is why do we think we have the right to force these animals into these situations? Circuses tell us that they are utilizing practical methods of elephant conservation and they have their animals' best interests at heart. If that were so, why are they not constantly given treats and positive reinforcement during shows, as some have asked? Whipping and questionable (at very best) training practices do not seem to have their best interests in mind. Forget treats, if someone truly loved elephants, why would they not want them in places such as some of the American elephant sanctuaries that exist in which they can live in the manner in which they evolved? The fact is that the circus is an old tradition that exists in order to turn the exotic and rare experience of seeing an elephant into money for the circus owners.

            Circuses abuse elephants even if not pain management techniques are involved. The mere constraint of these animals is suffering. And the horrible thing is they bear their slavery in silence. They walk slowly, never trumpeting in joy. They slowly trudge from their chained enclosures where they are bedecked with jewels and spangles and then led to the performance area. This is all we see. What we don’t see is these elephants alone, chained, swaying from foot to foot, and slowly going mad. And for what, an astute, intelligent, and kind person may ask. All so we can pay these circuses money, see a show, and be entertained for a few hours. The obviousness of the anti circus argument seems logically beyond reproach. When viewing elephants in circuses and captive situations, the looks on their faces seem to be all the argumentative ethos an educated and compassionate person would need in order to not only stop attending animal circuses, but to actively support elephant sanctuaries and educate the public who is not evil, simply unaware.

http://cla.calpoly.edu/bts/issue_08/08jaynes.htm

Animal Welfare - Animal Protection - Animal Rights

Circuses

 Using animals in circuses is an unnecessary and inhumane practice that's harmful to both the animals and the public. Unlike the human performers who choose to work in circuses, exotic animals are forced to take part in the show. They are involuntary actors in a degrading, unnatural spectacle.
While many people associate the circus with "safe, wholesome, family fun" — an association promoted aggressively by the circus PR machine — the truth is much darker. Government inspection reports reveal ongoing mistreatment of animals in circuses, as well as failures to provide the basic minimal standards of care required by law. Animals used in circuses have been injured and killed, and have injured and killed humans.
Circuses that exploit animals make lofty claims about their "educational" value and their contributions to "conservation." But the real message that these circuses send to children is that it's acceptable to abuse animals for amusement and profit.

And the conservation claims made by many circuses are merely veiled attempts to justify the exploitation of animals for commercial gain. Endangered animals born in circus "conservation" programs have never been released into the wild — they are doomed, instead, to life in captivity.
Born Free USA united with API's circus campaign aims to end the exploitation of "performing" animals by educating both the public and key decision-makers about how animals suffer under the big top, and by pushing for legislation and policy changes that help stop circus cruelty. We are also involved in groundbreaking litigation against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for its mistreatment of elephants.

Get The Facts

Source:  Animal Protection Institute and Born Free USA 

http://www.api4animals.org/a1a_circus.php

Please Help Alert Venues to This Abusive Animal Act

Baboon Lagoon is a ridiculous traveling act featuring six female hamadryas baboons. Reduced to clowns, these intelligent primates with a documented capacity for abstract thought are dressed in frilly tutus and forced to entertain gawking audiences with foolish antics. Baboon Lagoon regularly makes the rounds of state and county fairs as well as other venues around the world, not only causing tremendous animal suffering, but also desensitizing audiences, including impressionable children, to the cruelty inherent in captive animal acts.

Run by Lee and Judy Stevens, a husband-and-wife team that bills itself as "featured animal trainers for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus" a circus plagued with violations of the Animal Welfare Act Baboon Lagoon is hell on Earth for these social, curious, and complex animals.

Baboon Lagoon's Act Is All Wet
Baboon Lagoon's program features the animals riding a motorcycle, doing back flips, and climbing a ladder. Waiting for their turn onstage, the animals are chained to chairs, where they are forced to tolerate bright lights, blaring music, and amplified dialog. During a recent performance, one of the baboons was observed repeatedly bobbing her head, another obsessively groomed her wrist, and another simply turned her back to the audience for the entire show, seemingly trying to block out the whole sordid scene. Such neurotic behaviors are typical of animals enduring excruciating stress and boredom from captivity, as well as abusive training methods.

Cruel Training Techniques
Like all primates used in entertainment, baboons do not "perform" unless they are forced to often through intimidation, abuse, and solitary confinement. According to Dr. Robert Sapolsky, a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, who has spent more than 26 years studying baboons in a national park in East Africa, "Training most baboons to do tricks of the sort displayed is not trivial ... it is highly likely that it required considerable amounts of punishment (physical or otherwise) and intimidation."

There is also evidence that solitary confinement is a method used to ensure that the animals will perform on command: A trainer of circus chimpanzees has admitted that he keeps the animals in solitary confinement for the majority of the time so that they will be more motivated to perform.

Behind the Scenes
With two to three shows each day, the baboons spend the majority of their time up to 22 hours per day caged in semi-darkness. They are kept in traveling cages that measure approximately 2 feet by 3 feet-metal boxes with wire mesh fronts and sawdust scattered on the floor. The cages are built into a travel truck so little, if any, natural light penetrates their enclosures.

On the road for six months out of each year, the baboons are subjected to the stress of intense confinement, loneliness, and insufficient exercise. The Stevens boast that Baboon Lagoon has traveled all over the world, including Japan, Canada, Bermuda, and "all except two states."

Baboons Belong in the Wild
Captivity is a sad state of affairs both for animals stolen from the wild or those born into it.

The lives of these captive baboons are a far cry from those of their wild relatives, who live in large, close-knit communities and travel together for miles each day through forests, savannahs, and hills. Baboons are highly social and caring animals who suffer when deprived of companionship. In the wild, baboons will even stage sit-down protests or hurl rocks at cars when a loved one is killed on the road. The Stevens claim that their baboons were all born in captivity and "came to [them] when they were very, very young." In other words, as babies, they were torn from their mothers' sides probably within days of birth and sold to the Stevens to be trained and exploited as "performers."

THE SHOW MUST NOT GO ON!

In addition to two open USDA investigations into Sterling and Reid, the circus often uses sub-contractors with histories of negligent animal care and serious public safety concerns. Publicized news reports and government inspections reveal:

• a 400 pound bear falls from a moving truck on a Louisiana interstate on 4/2/00;
• a tiger escapes and leaves a performance area unattended;
• dangerous animals are left unattended in public areas;
• exotic cats forced to live in cages so small the animals are prevented from standing erect;
• animals fed improper diets leading to chronic malnutrition and subsequent health problems;
• lack of veterinary care plan;
• animal handler loses control of animals and handles them abusively;
• inexperienced and unqualified handlers and trainers working with animals;
• sub-contractor Brian Franzen surrenders 8 emaciated and dehydrated ponies to California law enforcement in 1998 and pleads guilty to two counts of animal abuse/neglect. In 1999, Franzen animals were still being transported on a Sterling and Reid truck;
• in 1999 Sterling and Reid relinquish exotic cats to the Oakland Zoo and a sanctuary when they learn the USDA has launched a cruelty investigation;
• Sterling and Reid Circus is charged with fraudulent advertising in Oregon in 1999;
• in St. Louis at a March 2,000 show, a horse bolts from the ring during a performance, hits a wall and falls down before being led back into the ring to continue performing.

For many, the word “circus” evokes imagery of popcorn, candy, "wild" animals, and fun. However, behind the glitter and the glitz of the circus lies a cruel world of untold animal suffering. Animals used in circuses are unwilling participants in a show that jeopardizes their health and mental well-being and the lives of human spectators and performers.

Trained by pain
Circuses force animals to perform tricks that have nothing to do with how these magnificent creatures behave in the wild. These unnatural acts range from a tiger jumping through a flaming hoop to bears riding bicycles. Animals are sometimes injured while performing: tigers, who naturally fear fire, have been burned jumping through flaming hoops. Training animals to perform acts that are sometimes painful or that they do not understand requires whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods and other tools. Elephants are trained through the use of an ankus—a wooden stick with a sharp, pointed hook at the end to discourage undesired behavior. An elephant handler will never be seen working with an elephant without an ankus in one hand or discreetly tucked under his arm. Although an elephant’s skin is thick, it is very sensitive—sensitive enough to feel a fly on her back. The ankus is embedded into elephants' most sensitive areas, such as around the feet, behind the ears, under the chin, inside the mouth, and other locations around the face. Sometimes it is used to smash them across the face. Circuses claim to use "positive reinforcement" and to base their tricks on behaviors that animals carry out naturally. If this were true, however, the trainers would be carrying bags of food treats, not a metal weapon.

Travel can be torture
Animals in circuses either travel in 18-wheelers or by train. During transport and between performances, tigers, who in the wild would secure 75-2,000 square miles, are kept in cages with barely enough room to turn around. Elephants, who walk up to 25 miles a day with their families in their natural habitat, are shackled in chains by their front and back legs so that they can't take a step forward or backward. They are forced to eat, sleep, and defecate in the same trailers, where they can be kept for stretches of more than 24 hours. Often the animals are not let off the railroad cars immediately upon arrival in their destination, either because of traffic conditions or because the train arrived too early or late. In this instance, the animals are forced to wait inside of the railroad cars for hours—even in extreme temperatures.
Circus schedules are created to maximize attendees, not to accommodate the animals from which they profit. Some of the many U.S. circuses that use animals travel as many as 48 weeks out of the year and cover thousands of miles. Some circuses go to warmer states in the summer, even though the animals may suffer in extreme temperatures. The same unfortunate situation occurs in the winter in colder areas. These factors exacerbate the already stressful conditions caused by confinement and transport.

Life in captivity
Even if conditions were improved and humane methods of training were used, the fact is that keeping wild animals in captivity deprives animals of much of what they value in life. Elephants, tigers, chimpanzees, and other animals used in circuses are complex creatures—not robots to be stacked in boxes and hauled to the next show. Animals have relationships with other members of their species and would naturally live in social groups or families. Baby elephants generally stay with their mothers for fifteen years if they are male and their entire lives if they are female. Yet in circuses, baby elephants are ripped from their mothers' sides as young as one year old because baby elephants are cute and draw a crowd which in turn helps the circus reap profit. Animals value exploring their environment, nurturing their young, courting and mating, and playing with others. However, in captivity, they are prevented from doing all of these things and instead live a life based on human wants and whims.
Lives of constant confinement and frustration of natural instincts force animals into a state of neurosis. Elephants in circuses constantly sway back and forth in their chains, and tigers constantly pace in their cages. These repetitive behaviors are symptoms of deep psychological distress due to being deprived of fulfilling their natural instincts. Animals can resort to self-mutilation from lack of psychological stimulation. These animals belong in their natural environments in the jungles of Africa and Asia—not in American arenas and parking lots.

Anti-Educational
Contrary to what circuses say and the justification some schools use for taking students to circuses, seeing animals in circuses does not provide a realistic educational tool because the animals are forced to perform tricks and live in conditions that are not natural for them. The animals are in an environment drastically different from their natural habitats, and their spirits are broken from harsh training and from not being able to fulfill some of their most basic needs and instincts.

Public safety: Reason for concern
Animals in circuses are a threat to public safety. When animals are brought into a new town by train, they are often walked from the train to an arena where they will be performing. Wild animals on city streets should give communities reason to be concerned. Cars, pedestrians, and elephants are side by side on busy city streets. Although some animals are accustomed to the heat, they are not used to walking on hot pavement or to not having access to water, trees, or mud holes. Circus trainers will even withhold food and water from animals to reduce untimely excrement. Elephants are harried along, forbidden to drink from puddles or snatch a branch from a tree by a bullhook-wielding trainer. Having these instincts stifled adds to the stress of transport and an unnatural environment, and animals are much more likely to become violent under these conditions.

Elephants in circuses have gone on rampages, injuring and killing spectators and causing property damage. Since 1990, 18 people have been killed and 86 have been injured. In 1994 an elephant named Tyke killed her handler, then went on a rampage in the streets of Honolulu, injuring onlookers and damaging property. Tyke was eventually gunned down by police on a busy street. Other incidents have occurred when elephants are frightened, sometimes by the honking of car horns or other stressors. Tigers have also been known to attack and kill their trainers; others have escaped into terrified communities.

Some elephants used in circuses have been found to carry a human strain of tuberculosis (TB). These animals pose a serious health risk since they are in contact with the public during publicity events and when children receive elephant rides.

Fun circuses
An end to animal circuses doesn't mean an end to fun. There are many circuses that are exciting and entertaining without abusing animals. Cirque du Soleil, The New Pickle Family Circus, Circus Smirkus, Cirque Eloize, Circus Oz and the Mexican National Circus are all wonderful circuses that offer family entertainment using only willing human performers.

Ringling vs. Reality

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus paints a picture of happy animals performing tricks because they like doing them. Consider the following, then decide whether that’s true. Here are some of Ringling’s frequent claims juxtaposed with the facts about the circus’s treatment of animals:

Ringling:
Our training methods are based on continual interaction with our animals, touch and words of praise, and food rewards.
Reality:
Video footage taken between 2001 and 2006 of Ringling trainers and handlers shows that elephants were aggressively hooked, lame elephants were forced to perform and travel, and a trainer inflicted a bloody bullhook wound behind an elephant’s ear flap. Former Ringling employees that left the circus in 2006 and 2007 describe violent beatings as well as the routine abuse of elephants, horses, camels, and zebras.

Ringling:
The ankus (bullhook) is used as an extension of the handler’s arm to guide the elephants.
Reality:
The bullhook, by design, is intended to cause pain and puncture the skin. Despite its appearance, an elephant’s skin is as sensitive as humans’ skin. The sharp metal hook on the end of the bullhook bruises, punctures, and tears elephants’ skin easily and often. Former Ringling animal crew employees report that the circus keeps a bag of topsoil handy to cover up bloody bullhook wounds on elephants.

Ringling:
Ringling is a leading expert in the care of Asian elephants. Our staff is dedicated to meeting our animals’ physical and behavioral needs.
Reality:
Ringling’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection reports are riddled with serious citations of problems that directly impact animal welfare. In 2006 alone, the circus was cited three times for failure to provide adequate veterinary care to a disabled elephant, to an elephant with a large swelling on her rear leg, and to a camel with bloody wounds. Also in 2006, Ringling was cited for causing trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm, and discomfort to two young elephants who sustained cuts and abrasions when they ran amok in an arena in Puerto Rico; improper handling of dangerous animals; and an enclosure in disrepair.

Ringling:
Ringling has never been adjudged to have violated the Animal Welfare Act.
Reality:
Ringling attempts to confuse the issue with legal terminology. The USDA refers to a citation on an inspection report as a “noncompliance” rather than a “violation.” Each citation by the USDA is an indication that federal inspectors found that Ringling Bros. is failing to comply with the minimum requirements of the Animal Welfare Act.

In addition to being cited on inspection reports, Ringling has also been warned by the USDA for causing trauma and stress to two baby elephants who suffered painful rope lesions when they were prematurely pulled from their mothers and for improper euthanasia after a caged tiger was shot to death. Ringling also paid 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.

Ringling:
All circuses are subject to stringent animal welfare regulations at the local, state, and federal level.
Reality:
No agency monitors training sessions, in which animals may be beaten behind the scenes. Most state and local agencies defer to the already overburdened USDA for matters concerning exotic animals in circuses. The federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) has no regulations that specifically pertain to elephants. For example, space requirements for animals ranging from elephants to zebras simply state, “Enclosures shall ... provide sufficient space to allow each animal to make normal postural and social adjustments.” Ringling consistently opposes proposed laws that would ban cruel training methods, such as bullhooks and the chaining of elephants. Although inspections by the USDA are supposed to be unannounced, several former Ringling employees claim that the circus always knows in advance when inspectors are coming.

Ringling:
Our staff are experts in their fields.
Reality:
Staff caring for animals in circuses may have little experience or formal training, increasing the potential for improper handling. Ringling regularly hires inexperienced people, some directly out of homeless shelters, and allows them to work with animals.

Ringling:
Ringling is attempting to save endangered Asian elephants from extinction.
Reality:
Ringling breeds elephants solely to perform in its circus. None of Ringling’s elephants can ever be released to the wild. Of the approximately 62 elephants owned by Ringling in 1990, 57 were captured in the wild. And at least 24 elephants have died since 1992. Ringling has not been successful in breeding more elephants than it has captured and imported for use in its traveling show, and its elephants are dying at a faster rate than they are breeding. Ringling routinely pulls unweaned elephants from their mothers to train them and put them on the road.

Ringling:
The animal routines in our circus showcase our animals’ natural behaviors.
Reality:
In nature, elephants don’t stand on their heads, walk trunk-to-tail, skip, crawl, or twirl, and adult female elephants do not mount one another. Tigers don’t hop on their hind legs and roll over in unison. In order to force wild animals to perform difficult and confusing circus tricks, trainers use whips, sticks, and bullhooks.

Ringling:
The public display of exotic and endangered animals contributes to a heightened awareness of humans’ responsibility to safeguard and protect these animals.
Reality:
According to David Hancocks, former director of the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, “When [circuses] portray animals as freaks and curiosities, devoid of context or dignity, circuses are perpetuating outdated attitudes. Wild animals in the circus are reduced to mere caricatures of their kind, exhibited just for financial gain. In this way, they corrupt our children, promoting the notion that exploitation and degradation is acceptable, even brave or funny.”

Ringling:
We operate a 200-acre state-of-the-art facility dedicated to breeding, research, and retirement of Asian elephants.
Reality:
The elephants at Ringling’s breeding compound in Florida only have access to a fraction of the property. When they are not chained, the elephants are confined to barns and small, barren outdoor paddocks. Ringling’s Williston, Fla., facility—also referred to as its retirement center—has several elephants who are infected with or exposed to a human strain of tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB). In September 2006, two male elephants at its breeding center also tested positive for TB and three female elephants were pulled off the road because they had been exposed to diseased elephants.

Ringling:
Our elephant care practices are in line with those set out in the “Elephant Husbandry Resource Guide” published by the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) with the support of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) and the Elephant Managers Association (EMA).
Reality:
As a founding board member of the IEF, Ringling helped develop the “Elephant Husbandry Resource Guide.” Ringling may have felt a need to develop this guide because the circus does not comply with the existing AZA Standards for Elephant Management and Care. Ringling does not provide its elephants on the road with AZA’s minimum space requirements, and the elephants are subjected to prolonged chaining.

Ringling:
Ringling Bros. elephants are healthy, thriving, vigorous, and content.
Reality:
The USDA has noted on Ringling inspection reports that some of the circus’s elephants suffer from lameness, foot abscesses, and arthritis. At least eight of the 24 elephant deaths at Ringling since 1992 were attributable to either osteoarthritis or a chronic foot problem—a common problem in captive elephants caused by lack of space and forced inactivity. In a book titled The Elephant’s Foot, former Ringling veterinarian Gary West contributed a chapter about foot care. West wrote, “Foot-related conditions and arthritis are the leading cause of euthanasia in captive elephants in the United States.”

You can help stop the suffering of elephants, tigers, and other animals abused in the name of “entertainment.” Click here to support PETA's vital work.