Prohibit the use of exotic animals in traveling shows and circuses in Carbondale, IL
- by: Bethany Ransom
- recipient: Mayor of Carbondale, IL & Bryan Rives Director of Southern Lights Entertainment
Animals used in traveling shows and circuses live their lives in misery. They are cruelly trained using bullhooks, shocking rods, ropes, fear, and force from the time they are babies. They are confined for more than 26 hours at a time and when they aren't traveling they are being trained.
Using exotic animals causes a public safety hazard as well. Animals can break away
from their trainers and cause serious damage and death.
The animals in circuses need our help. Please help tell the city of Carbondale, Illinois that cruel circuses and traveling shows like Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey are not welcome.
Please also send letters to Southern Lights Entertainment who hired Ringling Brothers to perform at SIUC. Contact information can be found here: http://southernlightsentertainment.com/about
Thank you!
Using exotic animals causes a public safety hazard as well. Animals can break away
from their trainers and cause serious damage and death.
The animals in circuses need our help. Please help tell the city of Carbondale, Illinois that cruel circuses and traveling shows like Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey are not welcome.
Please also send letters to Southern Lights Entertainment who hired Ringling Brothers to perform at SIUC. Contact information can be found here: http://southernlightsentertainment.com/about
Thank you!
We the undersigned ask you to please take a stand against animal abuse and ban traveling shows and circuses that use wild or exotic animals as a form of live entertainment from coming to Carbondale, Illinois.
Animals circuses have always been advertised as safe and fun for the family but circuses that use animals are anything but safe and fun.They are inhumane for the animals and can be dangerous for people too.
Elephants used for circuses are trapped as babies and torn away from their families to go through training. It is an industry standard to use brutal training methods using bullhooks, chains, ropes, electric shock rods, fear, and force. There are multiple forms of evidence supporting these claims such as undercover videos, trainer testimony, photos, and internal records. Contrary to popular belief, elephants have very sensitive and thin skin. Trainers have been recorded hitting and poking these sensitive elephants. It is easy for circuses to get away with mistreating animals because it is not easily monitored. The USDA has ignored several cases of animal abuse that has occured in the circus. Circuses must abide by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) but according to the non-profit orginization API (Animal Protection Institute) every major circus that uses animals has been cited for violating the Animal Welfare Act.
Ringling travels the country 48 to 50 weeks of the year with the animals and the animals are confined in cages and chained duing travel. They are chained in cramped cages for an average of more than 26 hours at a time. They have been reported as being in boxcars for as much as 60-100 hours at a time. This is terribly cruel and stressful for animals who would normally walk up to 30 miles per day and enjoy socializing with family members. This causes psychological damage, physical injury, and even death. The animals do not have a habitat to perform even their most basic
natural instints. They are not able to walk, lie down, or socialize.
Using exotic animals in circuses also causes a public safety hazard. These animals can snap from being frightened or stressed and break away from their trainer. There are several documented cases where circus animals have caused serious harm and death after finally breaking away.
There are many excuses that circuses use to appear justifiable to use exotic animals. For example they say it is educational for kids. This idea is rejected because there is nothing educational about animals doing unnatural tricks in an unnatural setting. It only teaches children that it is okay to use animals for our fun and amusement and disrespect them as a species.
They also say it is a form of conservation for their Asian elephants which are endangered. That is far from the truth. These endangered elephants are never released back into the wild. They are either kidnapped from a young age and torn from their herd or are bred. They are bred to only be replacement performers so the circus can continue to make a profit off of these suffering animals. The circus is a business and is only interested in making money so they use animals to lure families in to watch. If circuses were truley interested in the conservation of Asian elephants they would encourage people to donate or use some of their profits to donate to enforce protection laws, educate the public, and to preserve their native habitat. They wouldn't force their elephants to perform. They also try to convince people that they treat their animals well because they have a staff of veterinarians on hand. They must keep vets available so the animals can be treated after getting hurt from the training process, getting injuries from performing or from standing and being chained for hours at a time, not to ensure that the animals are treated humanely.
Non-animal circuses are becoming more popular with the growing amount of people learning what happens to these beautiful wild animals. There are other traveling circuses like Cirque du Soleil that do not use animals and that have people doing fantastic tricks that wow people just as much as the most popular animal circuses.
There are at least 21 cities that currently prohibit animal circuses. Animal abuse in circuses is an ongoing issue and is rising in awareness. People are realizing that exotic animals are living a lifetime of misery for minutes of entertainment.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
Sign PetitionSign PetitionAnimals circuses have always been advertised as safe and fun for the family but circuses that use animals are anything but safe and fun.They are inhumane for the animals and can be dangerous for people too.
Elephants used for circuses are trapped as babies and torn away from their families to go through training. It is an industry standard to use brutal training methods using bullhooks, chains, ropes, electric shock rods, fear, and force. There are multiple forms of evidence supporting these claims such as undercover videos, trainer testimony, photos, and internal records. Contrary to popular belief, elephants have very sensitive and thin skin. Trainers have been recorded hitting and poking these sensitive elephants. It is easy for circuses to get away with mistreating animals because it is not easily monitored. The USDA has ignored several cases of animal abuse that has occured in the circus. Circuses must abide by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) but according to the non-profit orginization API (Animal Protection Institute) every major circus that uses animals has been cited for violating the Animal Welfare Act.
Ringling travels the country 48 to 50 weeks of the year with the animals and the animals are confined in cages and chained duing travel. They are chained in cramped cages for an average of more than 26 hours at a time. They have been reported as being in boxcars for as much as 60-100 hours at a time. This is terribly cruel and stressful for animals who would normally walk up to 30 miles per day and enjoy socializing with family members. This causes psychological damage, physical injury, and even death. The animals do not have a habitat to perform even their most basic
natural instints. They are not able to walk, lie down, or socialize.
Using exotic animals in circuses also causes a public safety hazard. These animals can snap from being frightened or stressed and break away from their trainer. There are several documented cases where circus animals have caused serious harm and death after finally breaking away.
There are many excuses that circuses use to appear justifiable to use exotic animals. For example they say it is educational for kids. This idea is rejected because there is nothing educational about animals doing unnatural tricks in an unnatural setting. It only teaches children that it is okay to use animals for our fun and amusement and disrespect them as a species.
They also say it is a form of conservation for their Asian elephants which are endangered. That is far from the truth. These endangered elephants are never released back into the wild. They are either kidnapped from a young age and torn from their herd or are bred. They are bred to only be replacement performers so the circus can continue to make a profit off of these suffering animals. The circus is a business and is only interested in making money so they use animals to lure families in to watch. If circuses were truley interested in the conservation of Asian elephants they would encourage people to donate or use some of their profits to donate to enforce protection laws, educate the public, and to preserve their native habitat. They wouldn't force their elephants to perform. They also try to convince people that they treat their animals well because they have a staff of veterinarians on hand. They must keep vets available so the animals can be treated after getting hurt from the training process, getting injuries from performing or from standing and being chained for hours at a time, not to ensure that the animals are treated humanely.
Non-animal circuses are becoming more popular with the growing amount of people learning what happens to these beautiful wild animals. There are other traveling circuses like Cirque du Soleil that do not use animals and that have people doing fantastic tricks that wow people just as much as the most popular animal circuses.
There are at least 21 cities that currently prohibit animal circuses. Animal abuse in circuses is an ongoing issue and is rising in awareness. People are realizing that exotic animals are living a lifetime of misery for minutes of entertainment.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
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