Shut down all animal-based circuses

Circuses force animals to perform tricks that have nothing to do with how these magnificent creatures behave in the wild. These unnatural acts range from a tiger jumping through a flaming hoop to bears riding bicycles. Animals are sometimes injured while performing: tigers, who naturally fear fire, have been burned jumping through flaming hoops. Training animals to perform acts that are sometimes painful or that they do not understand requires whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods and other tools. Elephants are trained through the use of an ankus—a steel baseball-bat like object with a sharp hook at the end to discourage undesired behavior. An elephant handler will never be seen working with an elephant without an ankus in one hand or discreetly tucked under his arm. Although an elephant’s skin is thick, it is very sensitive—sensitive enough to feel a fly on her back. The ankus is embedded into elephants' most sensitive areas, such as around the feet, behind the ears, under the chin, inside the mouth, and other locations around the face. Sometimes it is used to smash them across the face. Circuses claim to use "positive reinforcement" and to base their tricks on behaviors that animals carry out naturally. In nature, however, bears do not ride bicycles, tigers don't jump through flaming hoops and elephants don't stand on their heads. If this were true, however, the trainers would be carrying bags of food treats, not a metal weapon.

Animals in circuses are a threat to public safety. When animals are brought into a new town by train, they are often walked from the train to an arena where they will be performing. Wild animals on city streets should give communities reason to be concerned. Cars, pedestrians, and elephants are side by side on busy city streets. Although some animals are accustomed to the heat, they are not used to walking on hot pavement or to not having access to water, trees, or mud holes. Circus trainers will even withhold food and water from animals to reduce untimely excrement. Elephants are harried along, forbidden to drink from puddles or snatch a branch from a tree by a bullhook-wielding trainer. Having these instincts stifled adds to the stress of transport and an unnatural environment, and animals are much more likely to become violent under these conditions.

Elephants in circuses have gone on rampages, injuring and killing spectators and causing property damage. Since 1990, 18 people have been killed and 86 have been injured. In 1994 an elephant named Tyke killed her handler, then went on a rampage in the streets of Honolulu, injuring onlookers and damaging property. Tyke was eventually gunned down by police on a busy street. Other incidents have occurred when elephants are frightened, sometimes by the honking of car horns or other stressors. Tigers have also been known to attack and kill their trainers; others have escaped into terrified communities.

Some elephants used in circuses have been found to carry a human strain of tuberculosis (TB). These animals pose a serious health risk since they are in contact with the public during publicity events and when children receive elephant rides.