Training
Training is very secretive; animals undergo training behind closed doors. There have been cases where brutal training methods have come to light.
The nature of training circus animals is revealed by the tools of the trade. Whips are seen in the ring but the use of screws hidden in the base of walking sticks, spikes concealed in tasselled sticks and hotshots or electric shock devices has been documented.
Domestic animals undergo the same questionable training methods and perform unnatural acts. Horses are trained to walk backwards on their hind legs with tight reins forcing the neck into a supposedly attractive, artificial position.
Performances
The animals in circuses are there purely for our entertainment, and the routines have changed little since the nineteenth century. In circuses, the audience can still see beautiful majestic animals like elephants ridiculed by their trainers, or big cats reduced to cowardly looking creatures by the cracking whip of the 'powerful' lion tamer.
Some circuses claim to be educational but there is no educational value in seeing such magnificent animals reduced to performing tricks. The idea of openly embarrassing an animal to prove that people are in power is not fun. Children should be taught to respect animals - circuses teach the opposite.
Circuses also claim to be involved in conservation, yet no animals from circuses have ever been released to the wild. Far from the suggested aim of conservation, most elephants in captivity have been taken from the wild.
Injuries and Escapes
The very nature of a travelling circus means they always being on the move and there is always a risk of escape. It is relatively common for animals like camels, pigs, and goats to get loose. There have also been escapes by lions and tigers.
The following all happened in circuses in Ireland and the UK:
- In 2005 a circus worker was seriously injured by an elephant, and four children were bitten by a monkey
- In 2005 a dog being walked on a park was attacked by dogs who had been performing with a circus
- In 2002 an elephant injured a lady. A few months later the same elephant escaped and was finally caught in someone's garden. In 1990 the owner of the same circus was almost killed by one of the elephants
- In 2001 a circus animal trainer was attacked by a tiger after tripping up in the enclosure
Even lions and tigers have escaped from circuses - for example four lions escaped from a circus in 1991 and attacked a passer by, and in 1995 a man had both arms ripped off by tigers in a circus cage.