Circus Animal Cruelty
Animal Acts and the Circus | The Terror and Subjugation of Entertainment Animals |
During the Seven Year’s War, and English entrepreneur named Phillip Astley began an equestrian act that would become the antecedent of the modern American circus. In 1793, Bill Ricketts cultivated Astley’s idea and opened the first one ring show in Philadelphia to great acclaim and success. Soon after in 1825, Joshuah Purdy Brown developed a canvas tent to house performers and the travelling circus was founded. Along with the awe inspiring trapeze artists, amazing strongmen, daring tightrope walkers and enigmatic ring masters, a hidden legacy of cruelty and animal abuse was born alongside this American tradition. As equestrian acts gave way to exotic menageries it was clear to the owners that their audiences were enthralled by the majesty and grandeur of their exotic beasts. To the circus, animals meant money and it wasn’t long before they were being trained to perform alongside humans. Common sense dictates that training a wild animal requires more than praise and treats but circus propaganda insists that attaboys and snacks are enough. It is a lie, circus animals are abused. They are beaten, whipped, chained by their ankles, made to live the majority of their existence in cages and are subjected to psychological torture by the very people who call them “family”. When animals are made to perform unnatural acts in taxing environments everyone suffers. Once the pain and confusion become too much to bear, these animals experience horrific breakdowns and turn on their handlers. In the end, there is sorrow and death. The circus is no place for animals.
Live animal acts put both the performer and the people around it in danger. Firstly, some of the acts require elephants to hold unnatural positions two or more times daily for weeks on end. These positions restrict the inner organs and put stress on muscles and joints which are not genetically designed to hold
During the Seven Year’s War, and English entrepreneur named Phillip Astley began an equestrian act that would become the antecedent of the modern American circus. In 1793, Bill Ricketts cultivated Astley’s idea and opened the first one ring show in Philadelphia to great acclaim and success. Soon after in 1825, Joshuah Purdy Brown developed a canvas tent to house performers and the travelling circus was founded. Along with the awe inspiring trapeze artists, amazing strongmen, daring tightrope walkers and enigmatic ring masters, a hidden legacy of cruelty and animal abuse was born alongside this American tradition. As equestrian acts gave way to exotic menageries it was clear to the owners that their audiences were enthralled by the majesty and grandeur of their exotic beasts. To the circus, animals meant money and it wasn’t long before they were being trained to perform alongside humans. Common sense dictates that training a wild animal requires more than praise and treats but circus propaganda insists that attaboys and snacks are enough. It is a lie, circus animals are abused. They are beaten, whipped, chained by their ankles, made to live the majority of their existence in cages and are subjected to psychological torture by the very people who call them “family”. When animals are made to perform unnatural acts in taxing environments everyone suffers. Once the pain and confusion become too much to bear, these animals experience horrific breakdowns and turn on their handlers. In the end, there is sorrow and death. The circus is no place for animals.
Live animal acts put both the performer and the people around it in danger. Firstly, some of the acts require elephants to hold unnatural positions two or more times daily for weeks on end. These positions restrict the inner organs and put stress on muscles and joints which are not genetically designed to hold
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