Shame on the Circus

Ringling Bros. Baby Elephant Training Session, Picture Courtesy of PETA

Sam Haddock, an elephant handler who worked for Ringling's Center for Elephant Conservation (Ringling Bros. Circus elephant breeding and training facility) up until 2005 exposed the truth about the horrible treatment the animals are forced to endure. To view a pictures taken by Sam Haddock of baby elephants being tortured in the name of training at the Ringling Bros. facility go to http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/bound-babies.asp. To view Sam Haddock's 2009 notarized sworn statement on Ringling Bros. elephant abuse, read http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/pdfs/haddockDeclarationRedacted.pdf.

Elephants at Ringling Brothers spend 23 hours a day tied up (with chains around all four legs) in concrete floored barns. They are tied so tight, they can hardly move. Infants are taken from their mothers at about 18 months old. The mother and infant screams as the infant is tied and dragged away and tied across the barn and out of reach, to never be with his or her mother again. The one hour a day of training consists of several people surrounding the animal and using electric prods, hooks, chains and ropes to force the elephant into unnatural positions, in the name of training. To train an elephant to stand on her head, ropes are tied around her legs and body, she is pulled into position, while hooks and prods are pressed against sensitive spots on her hind feet so she keeps them in the air and a one to her head to stop her from lifting her head up. This is just one example of the horrors the animals endure. They are electrocuted and beaten. They are kept shackled the rest of the day, not allowed to move. The facility is filled with the screams of agony coming from the tortured elephants. Ringling Brothers blasts music to try and hide the sound of the elephant screams from the public and hides the facility behind walls so no-one can see in.

Why does Ringling Brothers do this to the elephants? Because, the tricks they force the animals to perform are not natural behaviors. Not only are they not natural, they are painful. Circus animals are forced to do tricks that break their legs and burst their uteruses. Elephants injured do not receive pain treatment, they are simply forced to perform until they die.

People love to watch elephants and other animals at the circus because, well, they love them. But, really if you love elephants and other animals, then going to the circus is the wrong thing to do. There is only one reason why Ringling Brothers and other circuses that use animals are in business and that reason is money. If people were not paying to go to these circuses, they would go out of business.

Why do we allow this to go on. The entire lives of these elephants are filled with nothing but torture. No joy, no rest, no mercy, only suffering. Why? To entertain humans. This needs to stop. Never go to a circus. Tell everyone you know to never go to a circus. Educate everyone you know. Let the secretary of agriculture know that you will not tolerate this type of behavior by circuses. Send a petition to the secretary of agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack by going here: https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2359.