Most of us were taught as children that [tag]circuses[/tag] involve animals (usually large and “wild”) performing stupid tricks at the behest of a ringleader who does nothing more than gently wave a hand to indicate to the animal its next move. What we aren’t taught is what it takes to get a wild animal to behave so unnaturally. I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the intellectual superiority of the trainers.

Rather, these animals are stripped from the nurturing care of their families at a young age, when they are then forced into a life of beatings, shoutings, burnings, and deprivation. The video below (from circuses.com) shows a little about the reality of circus animals.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Targeting Activists
The corporations behind these circuses spend a lot of money portraying themselves as wholesome family fun. They also spend a lot of money on lawyers and undercover agents to make sure that no one tarnishes that image.

Will Potter recently wrote an exposé about some of the tactics used by the circus industry to smash the public’s ability to criticize their practices. While the Ringling Brothers’ Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) suit against the ASPCA was rejected by the judge, Potter is likely correct in his assessment that this will not be the final tactic used against activists who are trying to put a stop to [tag]animal cruelty[/tag] in circuses.

Feld Entertainment, the producers of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus, has already begun to align the work of the ASPCA and other groups with extremism (which in today’s hyped climate is akin to terrorism).

“This lawsuit is a direct result of the animal rights extremists’ agenda to deny families in the United States entertainment choices like the circus and their ongoing conspiracy to harm Feld Entertainment,” company spokesman Stephen Payne said in a statement. (from The Dallas Morning News)

While it may be true that animal rights groups are attempting to deny families in the United States entertainment choices that are based on exploitation and torture, it can just as easily be said that Feld Entertainment has an agenda of denying U.S. citizens the right to assembly and free speech (not to mention privacy… check out the link above from Salon.com).

For more information about the exploitation and abuse of circus animals and what you can do to put a stop to it, visit circuses.com.