15 Reasons to Boycott the Circus

1. Government inspection reports reveal ongoing mistreatment of animals in circuses. Because of continued abuse of circus elephants, there is a pending lawsuit against Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

2. Many people claim that circuses are conservation programs for endangered species (such as the Asian elephant). However no circus animal has ever been released to the wild and the conservation claim is merely a way to justify the exploitation of animals for profit.

3. Sweden, Austria, Costa Rica, India, Finland and Singapore have all banned or restricted the use of animals in entertainment. However, the US lags behind.

4. Elephants are trained to perform unnatural acts by the use of a “bullhook”, which is a 2-3 foot long club or stick with a sharp metal hook attached to the top. It is repeatedly used to beat, hit and poke the animals, often leaving permanent scars. There are numerous undercover videos and testimony from past circus employees corroborating this information.

5. Heavy, metal, and short chains are used to confine circus elephants. The elephants are chained by one front leg and one back leg, preventing them from laying down. The chaining of elephants also prevents them from interacting with other elephants, which is a natural behavior for elephants as they are very social creatures.

6. Ringling Brothers typically transport the elephants from city to city by train, chained by one front foot and one back foot and unable to lay down. They are also kept in cramped conditions for over eight hours without stopping for water. They are trained for 11 months and the one month they are not being trained, they are still confined in horrid conditions.

7. Elephant transportation vehicles lack climate control and are forced to stand for hours in their own waste.

8. In the wild, elephants live in large, sociable herds and walk up to 25 miles every day. In addition to the physical abuse of circus elephants, they are also deprived of their freedom to roam and engage in their instinctual behavior which includes socializing with other elephants.

9. Although minimum legal protections are provided in the Animal Welfare Act, the law does not provide adequate protection for circus animals. Often a veterinarian isn’t even on site and local vets are not knowledgeable about the unique medical needs of exotic animals. Circuses are frequently cited by the USDA, the agency responsible for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act, for failure to keep veterinary records, for providing moldy or rancid food and no water, for storing chemicals near the animals’ food supply, and for stocking expired medications.

10. Every major circus that uses animals has been cited for violating the Animal Welfare Act. These circuses are almost always given a slap on the wrist and forced to pay a minimal fine.

11. Enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act is very difficult because the USDA, the agency responsible for enforcement, only has 100 inspectors to monitor conditions at approximately 12,000 facilities.

12. Although poaching is a problem in Africa, there are wildlife conservation parks that are constantly patrolled to ensure the safety of animals. Elephant poaching has decreased since the highly enforced ban on the possession and sale of ivory. In recent years, the elephant population has significantly increased due to conservation efforts.

13. Although circuses claim that they are a form of educating the public about elephants, there is no education in watching the exploitation of elephants that are cruelly trained to perform unnatural acts. Circuses teach children that it is acceptable to exploit animals. No research has been shown that attending circuses increases public concern about the status of an endangered species.

14. Elephants in the circus, regardless of how much they are “trained”, are still wild animals capable of and have a history of lashing out, escaping, and thus posing a risk to public safety.

15. Elephants in the circus often carry diseases such as tuberculosis (aka “TB”) and can infect humans with this disease. Note that there is no cure for this disease in either elephants or humans.