Published in The News Eagle (Wayne/Pike Counties, PA)
The circus is coming to town. I remember as a child going to Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus in Madison Square Garden. I couldn't wait to see the elephants and tigers and thought how wonderful and exciting it must be to be an animal trainer like the renowned Gunther Gebel-Williams. Now that I know that those magnificent animals spent their lives in torment, the circus coming to town causes chills of sadness rather than thrills of joy. The Greatest Show on Earth is more like Three Rings of Abuse.
There is no longer any excuse to ignore the fact that circuses are no fun for the animals. Animals suffer terribly to amuse humans, and spectators unknowingly contribute to this cruelty by their attendance. Ringling Bros., the nation's most prestigious and wealthy circus, has been cited for hundreds of violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Last year, Sears, Roebuck & Co. was convinced to pull their long-time sponsorship of Ringling Bros. after a disastrous year of animal-related incidents including the death of Kenny, a baby elephant who died after he was forced to perform while seriously ill, and the shooting of a caged Bengal tiger by a circus employee.
Talk to circus employees, as I have, and they will of course tell you that they love their animals and want the best for them, as this is their livelihood. First of all, what else are they going to tell you? Second, I think some of these people actually believe what they are saying. It's the "better to be safe in slavery than in danger in the wild" logic. And while some trainers may start out with kindness in their hearts, they either won't last long in the business or they will stay and become hardened. How else could you believe that life in a cramped cage, boredom, pain, and punishment constitute love? Circus animals do not perform to please their trainers; they work from fear. In addition to whippings, shockings, and beatings, food is routinely withheld as punishment for unsatisfactory performance.
When I worked at a wildlife sanctuary in California, the elephant handlers told me that anyone who trains elephants to do tricks has to beat the animal into submission first, and if a trainer tells you otherwise they are lying. Baby elephants are chained or tied down and brutally beaten every day for a month until they learn to submit to their trainers. All elephants are routinely beaten to break their spirits. These same elephants, however, know who their tormentors are, and many will wait for years for the right opportunity to get back at them.
Such was the well-publicized case of Tyke who, during a circus performance in Honolulu, killed her trainer before hundreds of horrified spectators, mauled another circus worker, and then bolted into the downtown area. Police fired 86 shots into the poor animal. She eventually collapsed and was given a lethal injection. Still alive, police fired more shots to end her pathetic life. Her trainer had been accused of elephant abuse for years, and Tyke had gone on rampages the year before in both North Dakota and Pennsylvania. The photos of Tyke in the streets of Honolulu, blood from her multiple gunshot wounds running into her eye and staining her pretty pink head ribbon and running down her leg over her restraints, are a sad reminder that caging magnificent wild animals and making them do foolish tricks is madness.
The number of elephants who snap under the strain of circus life has been on the rise. Just recently, an 18-year-old African circus elephant escaped and went on a rampage near San Bernardino, California. Police officer Blayne Doyle, forced to shoot and kill Janet, an elephant who charged out of a circus arena in Florida carrying a box full of children on her back, said afterward, "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."
Other performing wild animals also suffer terribly. They spend their entire lives in cages moving from one place to another. Ropes are put around the necks of tigers to choke them into learning tricks. Electric prods are used to train bears dance. The list goes on. These animals are denied almost everything important to them. And conditions in the smaller circuses are even more horrendous. But elephants pose the most risk to the public and have been the cause of numerous deaths, injuries, and lawsuits. In addition, it has been discovered that tuberculosis is spreading rapidly among captive elephants, exposing people who get close to them to the disease.
And when problem animals are retired from the circus, many are sent to cruel facilities that "recycle" animals -- that is, put them through a severe punishment program before they are sent to lesser circuses or zoos. It is an endless cycle of cruelty.
Taking children to the circus does not teach them to appreciate the behavior of a wild animal because these animals are but shadows of their natural selves. The only way to end their misery is to boycott circuses featuring animal acts and patronize those that don't, such as The Pickel Family Circus, Circus Oz, and Cirque du Soleil. A growing number of American cities are joining several countries where circuses featuring animal acts are already banned.
Cruelty is not entertainment.
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by Teresa D'Amico