The Three-Ring Prison

When adults take their children to the circus, they expect their child to be mesmerized. What is there for a child not to be captivated by? Between the dazzling display of lights, the vast amount of animals, and the entertaining clowns all over the place, the circus is a great experience for any child. While the tigers are jumping through hoops of fire, the elephants are being prepared to go out into the center ring. The audience is going wild and the children are screaming in excitement. Before the elephants begin their march into the ring, the trainers, behind the scenes, take one last hit at them with their bull hooks. One elephant trumpets in pain as the hook gashes its skin. While all this is going on, a lion is imprisoned in a cage back stage with only enough room to turn around in. Does this sound like the fun, happy circus that we all are used to? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Circuses around the world are severely mistreating their animals, out of the public eye, in regards of housing/environment, training methods, and performances. Circuses all over are getting away with this because the Animal Welfare Act is not strict enough on their guidelines for the circus industry. The famous Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is claiming to have done nothing abusive toward their animals even though they have been caught countless times on hidden video cameras. The Animal Welfare Act does not reach the standards that it should and needs to be changed to enforce stricter rules on training methods, housing, and unnatural behavior in performances.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is continually getting attention for the mistreatment of their animals. However, the funny thing is that they deny mistreating...

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...inimum requirements. “The law does not protect animals in circuses. It is up to the public to say, ‘Enough is enough’” (Newkirk). The Animal Welfare Act needs to be reformed to provide more adequate housing/environment, stricter regulations on training methods, and policies on performing unnatural behaviors. With a reform of the Animal Welfare Act, the whole circus industry would be forced to change their practices. It is about time that we give the main stars of the show a break.

Works Cited

“3 Important Reasons Not to Take Children to the Circus.” Circuses.com. PETA. Web. 10 Dec. 2009.

“Animal Circuses, Animal Suffering.”Captiveanimals.org. CAPS, June 2001. Web. 10 Dec. 2009.

Newkirk, Ingrid E. “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.” 27 July 2009. SIRS Knowledge Source. Web. 10 Dec. 2009.

“Ringling vs. Reality.” Circuses.com. PETA. Web. 10 Dec. 2009.