Animals DO NOT belong in the circus.

10 BIG REASONS TO BOYCOTT THE CIRCUS:

1. Every major circus that uses animals has been cited for violating the minimal standards of care set forth in the United States Animal Welfare Act (AWA).
2. Animals in circuses spend about 11 months of the year traveling.
3. During travel, animals may be caged or chained for long distances and hours, forced to stand in their own waste, in extreme temperatures.
4. Standard circus industry training tools used on animals include bullhooks, whips, clubs, and electric prods.
5. Animals born in circus “conservation” breeding programs have never been released into the wild.
6. From 1994 to 2005, at least 31 elephants have died premature deaths in the circus. Other circus animals who have died in an untimely manner include horses and lions.
7. Captive elephant and captive feline attacks on humans in the U.S. have resulted in hundreds of injuries, many resulting in death.
8. In the wild, elephants live in large, sociable herds and walk up to 25 miles every day. Most other wild animals found in circus settings, including lions and tigers, are also constantly on the move in their native habitats. In the circus, animals spend most of their time in cages or chains.
9. Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (which enforces the AWA) have repeatedly ignored obvious physical trauma to animals, eyewitness accounts of mistreatment, and sworn testimony from former circus employees who report abuse of elephants.
10. Circuses that feature only human performers are gaining in popularity and provide dazzling, humane, and truly family-friendly entertainment.

CHAINED CIRCUS ELEPHANT:

BABY ELEPHANT BEING FORCED TO COMPLY:

CAGED TIGER WITH TAIL UNTREATED TAIL INJURY:

PONIES CHAINED AT THE HEAD:

The following excerpts are from police reports regarding the Shrine Circus - the circus that just came through Green Bay, Wisconsin. I'm copying and pasting just a FEW of the 5-page long document of actual proven facts regarding this circus:

March 1-4, 2007: The Al Chymia Shrine Circus in Memphis, Tennessee, featured elephant trainer Tim Frisco who, in his capacity as animal care director for Carson & Barnes Circus, was videotaped viciously attacking terrified elephants with sharp metal bullhooks and electric prods. Frisco instructed other trainers to hurt the elephants until they screamed and to sink the bullhook into their flesh and twist it and cautioned that the beatings must be concealed from the public.

March 25, 2006: A Montréal Gazette article reported that a former clown with the Shrine Circus was sentenced to three years in prison for sexually abusing his daughter and sister-in-law. He was found guilty of nine of the 42 charges filed against him, including sexual assault.

March 16, 2006: The USDA cited Hawthorn Corporation, an exhibitor performing for the Shrine Circus in Springfield, Missouri, for failure to provide veterinary care to a male lion who had three lesions, including a 3-inch long open scrape on his right hip, and scabbed-over lesions at the base of his tail and on his left hip. The licensee said these lesions were caused by the lion's rubbing against the bars of the enclosure.

March 16, 2006: The USDA cited George Carden Circus, which was performing as the Shrine Circus in Springfield, Missouri, for failing to provide veterinary care to an elephant named Judy who had three open wounds on her forehead and one open wound on her left front leg.

February 24, 2006: The USDA cited Hawthorn Corporation, an exhibitor performing for the Arab Shrine Circus in Topeka, Kansas, for failure to provide adequate veterinary care to three tigers who had sores and spots of missing hair on top of their heads and near their eyes. Hawthorn was also cited for failure to have “any weapons that could immobilize, tranquilize, or [euthanize] any of the [eight] tigers if escape occurred …”

February 24, 2006: The USDA cited Jorge Barreda, an exhibitor performing for the Arab Shrine Circus in Topeka, Kansas, for failure to maintain the sanitation of a transport trailer in which the inspector found “dried & caked elephant waste on the walls.”

November 18, 2005: According to a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article, a volunteer clown for the Shriners was sentenced to four years in prison and eight years of extended supervision for using a computer to facilitate a sex crime. The man traveled from Kentucky to Wisconsin with the intent of having sex with a 14-year-old girl. The president of the Owensboro Shrine Clowns defended the man’s character.

April 9, 2003: The USDA filed charges against Hawthorn Corporation, a company that supplies elephants and tigers to Shrine Circuses. The complaint alleges 47 violations of the minimum standards of care established in the Animal Welfare Act. Charges include using physical abuse to train, handle, and work an elephant, causing physical harm and discomfort, failing to provide veterinary care to an emaciated elephant, failure to provide veterinary care to an elephant suffering with severe chemical burns and a bacterial infection, failure to provide veterinary care to several elephants with potentially deadly foot problems, and unsafe public contact.

June 17, 2002: Two elephants, named Tory and Mary, performing with the Shrine Circus in Menomonie, Wisconsin, bolted out of a circus tent during a show, scattering crowds. Mary hiked 2 miles through town and was recaptured at the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus when trucks blocked her escape. One child was injured, and the elephants damaged a door at the park and caused $600 in damage to a city truck.

April 13, 2001: A letter to the editor published in the Chicago Sun-Times stated, “I escorted a group of schoolchildren, including my 8-year-old daughter, to this year’s Medinah Shrine Circus. ... When the elephants were brought behind the curtain, the trainer began verbally abusing and hitting the elephant. We watched in horror as he swung a stick with all his force and struck the elephant in the back of the leg. This must have hurt because the elephant let out a scream that could be heard throughout the UIC Pavilion. The kids were frightened and asked me why the man was hurting the elephant.”

April 1994: Three children were injured when an elephant giving rides at a Shrine-sponsored circus in Muskegon, Michigan, fell into the passenger loading platform, spilling the riders and bending the platform.

August 8, 1993: A Tucson, Arizona, Shrine Circus clown was arrested on charges of molesting three girls, ages 6, 7, and 10, whom he had met at the circus.