Circuses Are No Fun for Animals

All of us remember the thrill and curiosity we use to feel when people started talking about circuses. Afterall, circuses have captivated audiences for decades, but the hype surrounding these spectacles disguise a momentous problem. It looks innocent enough, the children seem to enjoy watching the lion roar on cue or the elephant balance on two legs. But have you ever considered what the animals do when the stands are empty, or how they learn their tricks? In this campaign, you will learn about the hidden horrors of circuses.

Everybody knows that an elephant would never stand on two legs in the wild, tricks like that are completely unnatural. To train the creatures how to perform, physical force must be implemented. This obviously causes physical pain, sometimes so severe the animal is left permanently injured or even dead. Once I went to the circus but felt bored in the middle so I went out for fresh air, it was then that I heard one of the most bone-chilling shrieks in my life, one that belonged to a chimpanzee that was backstage, it still gives me nightmares, it’s barbaric! that’s right barbaric, its the only word that came to mind when I heard it.

Not only are the tricks the animals are forced to perform unnaturally, but so are the conditions they are kept in. While the circus performers travel in comfortable automobiles and sleep in warm beds, the animals they employ in their acts stay in cramped cages that constantly jostle around in some dark dingy trailer, just how much of there humanity are they going to sacrifice for the sake of profit. 90% of animals are confined in cages that give them only just enough room to turn around, not even that in the case of elephants. Most circuses shackle the animals specifically to keep them from moving around in their cages (barely large enough to house the animal to begin with).

Once my friend and I went to a circus in France, as we were looking around we found a cage, in it was a young bear with snow white, cotton soft fur. At first we thought she was asleep but we later found out that she was dead! she was made suicidal from immense frustration, she bashed her head against her cage again and again until she died. Can we really just sit here and turn a blind eye while profit is being made from these animals suffering? Well, I for one can not.

Often, not enough food or water is given, causing malnutrition and dehydration. In the wild, the animals would be in packs or with a family. In a circus, a tiger cage may be kept next to a cage with small dogs. You can imagine the anguish it must cause both these animals.

Children viewing circus animals will learn nothing. Compare what a child will learn watching a tiger prance around a dusty arena with a trainer shouting commands at it, to a documentary following a tiger raising her cubs in African reserve. Taking advantage of animals and using them for our own entertainment is generally degrading to the animal kingdom, leading to an increase in animal abuse in general.

There are many circuses without animals that are extremely entertaining and successful. So why, you may ask, does the abuse continue? The answer is simple. The circuses are still making profit. People still fill the stands. And it’s still not illegal to use animals in circuses, so the facts are ignored.

People may worry that generations to come will miss out on a circus tradition: After all, why should they care about the way animals are treated? If such a tradition involves the abuse and occasional death of animals, an alternative should come about. Children should learn to respect animals, not rely on them for entertainment. If the mistreatment of circus animals continues, some may become endangered and future generations would miss out in a worse way. People should start caring for the sake of a better world because no one would want to live in a world without animals.

Animals should no longer exist as a part of the circus” attraction. Animals used for entertainment have to endure unhealthy amounts of stress, ultimately putting the safety of spectators and circus staff at risk. It’s simply cruel, disgusting, and wrong. After all this, after all I’ve said, if you still don’t feel anything for these poor animals then you can throw this in the bin and go on with your life, but if you feel even a little bit moved and feel like you want help and make a change for the better, a change for our future generation.

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