Cruel Training
For animals in circuses, there is no such thing as “positive reinforcement”—only varying degrees of punishment and deprivation. Animals do not voluntarily ride bicycles, stand on their heads, or jump through rings of fire. They don’t perform these and other difficult tricks because they want to; they perform because they’re afraid not to. For information about specific circuses, click here.

Circuses easily get away with routine abuse because no government agency monitors training sessions. Trainers use bullhooks, whips, sticks, electric prods, and other tools that intentionally cause pain and injury in order to force animals to perform. Undercover footage of behind-the-scenes training shows elephants beaten with bullhooks and shocked with electric prods, big cats dragged by heavy chains around their neck and hit with sticks, bears whacked and prodded with long poles, and chimpanzees kicked and hit with riding crops.



Constant Confinement
Ringling Bros. boasts that its two units travel more than 25,000 miles as they tour across the country for 11 months each year. Constant travel means that animals are confined to boxcars and trailers for days at a time in extremely hot and cold weather, often without access to basic necessities, such as food, water, and veterinary care.

Some elephants spend almost their whole lives shackled. One study of traveling circuses observed an elephant who spent up to 96 percent of her time in chains. Tigers and lions usually live and travel in cages 4 feet high by 7 feet long by 7 feet wide, with two big cats crammed into a single cage. Big cats, bears, and primates are forced to eat, drink, sleep, defecate, and urinate in the same cramped cages.



Public Danger
Frustrated by years of beatings, bullhooks, and shackles, some elephants snap. And when an elephant rebels against a trainer’s physical dominance, trainers cannot protect themselves, let alone the public.

In 1994, an elephant killed her trainer and injured 12 spectators before being gunned down by almost 100 bullets while running terrified through downtown Honolulu. In 1992, officer Blayne Doyle had to shoot Janet, an elephant who charged out of the Great American Circus arena with five children on her back. In speaking before members of Congress about the dangers of elephant rampages, Doyle lamented, “I have discovered, much to my alarm, that, once an elephant goes out of control, nothing can be done. It is not a predictable or preventable accident. The only thing that can be done—and even this is a danger to the public—is to get a battery of police officers in with heavy weapons and gun the elephant down.” Click here to read more about the risks of performing animal attacks.

Circus Bans
Because of concerns about animal mistreatment and public safety, a growing number of communities are banning or restricting the use of animals in circuses. Click here for a complete list.

Animal-Free Circuses
The Latest Shows on Earth—the Cirque du Soleil, the New Pickle Family Circus, Cirque Éloize, and others—are exciting and innovative circuses that dazzle audiences without animal acts.

Circuses that Exploit Animals
Bentley Bros. Circus
Carson & Barnes Circus
Circus Gatti
Circus Hollywood
Circus Pages
Cole Bros. Circus
Culpepper and Merriweather Circus
Elephant Encounter
Franzen Bros. Circus
George Carden Circus International
Hanneford Family Circus
Hawthorn Corporation
Hendrick Bros. Circus
Jordan World Circus
Kelly Miller Circus
Liebel Circus
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Royal Hanneford Circus
Shrine Circus
Tarzan Zerbini Circus
Universoul Circus
Walker Bros. Circus