Elephant Abuse In The Circus

Anthony Wiaduch

English 2

Decker-Doorn

15 September 2015

Elephant Abuse in the Circus

“Stick that hook into ‘em… when you hear that screaming, then you know you got their attention.” – Circus elephant trainer caught on tape (Circus Animals). All across the world, animals used in circuses such as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey live a horrific life in which they are dominated, confined, and violently trained. They are routinely beaten, shocked, and whipped until they learn to perform tricks that make no sense to them. (Meet the Elephants). Many people are not aware of the harsh reality the elephants and other circus animals face just so circuses can make money. The way these circuses treat these animals that have been ripped from their homes

is more than enough reason for them to be made illegal and to be shut down forever.
Circuses have been around for a very long time. Pompey, the Emperor of Rome, created the very first Circus called, “The Circus Maximus” which included acrobats, horse and chariot races, equestrian shows, and animals such as elephants and lions to entertain the citizens. (History of the Circus). For many years, circuses that have animals as part of their act have been a very popular form of entertainment across the planet. The popularity of watching animals do tricks intertwined with people became so great that people began making a business out of it. One of the most famous circuses to date, The Ringling Brothers, was founded by the brothers, Albert, Alfred, Charles, John and Otto. They obtained their first two African Elephants, Babe and Fannie in 1888. (Ringling Brothers Circus in the United States). The elephants were a huge hit in the circus, due to the high demand of people wanting to see them do tricks, they proceeded to get more elephants each year.
Traveling to different cities is by far the most unsanitary thing for the elephants. Circus elephants are kept shackled and have to travel 26 hours straight on average. Some legs extended beyond 70 hours without a break. The longest stretch: 100 hours on a 1,830 mile journey from Kentucky to Arizona. There are up to 5 elephants in a box car. Keep in mind that an elephant creates up to 15 gallons of urine and 200 + pounds of waste in 24 hours. (Nelson, Deborah)
Although elephants are very intelligent animals, they do not come with the knowledge to do things like standing on buckets or on their hind legs.

To learn these tricks, these methods are literally beaten into them mercilessly. The circus elephant trainers use a dreaded tool called a bull hook. It’s a malevolent – looking instrument, about 3ft long, with a sharp, metal point-and-hook combination at one end. The point is for pushing; the hook inserted in the mouth or at the top of the ear, is for pulling. Both are sharp enough to pierce elephant hide. (Nelson, Deborah). Elephants are beaten, poked, prodded, and jabbed with sharp hooks, sometimes until bloody (Ringling Brothers Circus) on the sensitive parts of their skin, head, feet, and all over their bodies to make them do ridiculous tricks and teach them to do them out of fear of being mistreated. After long hours of being “trained” new tricks, the elephants are kept with their feet chained down for long periods of time (Circus Animals), which doesn’t allow them to roam

freely.
In order to train the elephants, circuses had to get them from somewhere. In 1850 the Ringling Brother’s hired 160 “native assistants” to sail to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in South Asia, to obtain more highly endangered Asian Elephants for their circus. To capture an elephant, the assistants would tickle a sensitive spot on the elephant’s hind leg in order to get the elephant to lift its foot up for them to slip a noose around its ankle. On the expedition many of the elephants were killed during the capturing process. 11 of the captured elephants were hoisted into a ship’s hold for the 12,000 mile voyage to New York City. If one of the elephants died on the way, it was dumped carelessly overboard. (Nelson, Deborah). Back at the training facilities, baby elephants are prematurely removed from their mothers for the purpose of early training. (Circus Animals). In the wild, baby Elephants are nurtured by their mothers and are constantly by their side for 15 years. Elephants in the circus are weaned away from their mothers at such a young age, and the mature elephants are not allowed to mature, which causes them to be unable to experience life as they would if they were in the wild, because of this their lives are greatly impacted for the worse.
A documented story of the elephant Ricardo is a perfect example on how elephants are treated in circuses. Ricardo was an 8 month old Asian Elephant. On August 5, 2004, Ricardo was being trained to stand on a tub for a show at Ringling Brother’s breeding facility – the Center for Elephant Conservation. While training, something terrible happened. Ringling Brothers claims that Ricardo “fell” off a tub while playing, broke both his legs, and had to be euthanized. However, at a subsequent trial against the circus under the Endangered Species Act, Ricardo’s trainer, Gary Jacobson, admitted under cross examination that Ricardo was being “trained to get on the tub” when he fell and broke his legs. Mr. Jacobson also admitted that this “training” involved the use of a bull hook and a rope that was tied around Ricardo’s trunk. (Elephant Mistreatment at Ringling Brothers). In 2011, movie makers tried to shine light on elephant abuse in circuses by creating the well-known book, “Water for Elephants” which is ironically about the torture of an elephant named Rosie in a 1930s animal circus. How did the elephant playing Rosie learn how to act in the movie? The movies’ elephant trainers were caught shocking and bull-hooking, Tai, the 45 year old Asian Elephant playing Rosie in order to make her do tricks for the movie. (Chandler, Candice). The irony of making a movie trying to shed light on the issue but ending up uses the practices that are under criticism is so unfortunate.
Not every family goes to the circus, or the families that do may be thinking that this isn’t affecting them in any way. But under federal regulations, sick elephants must get prompt medical care and a veterinarian’s okay before performing. (Nelson, Deborah) Ringling refuses and hasn’t done so which results in many deaths of their elephants and leads to the environment that both the people and elephants are in during the performance to be unhealthy. The circus isn’t only dangerous to the animals; it can also be a dangerous place for you too. Some elephants used in circuses have been found to carry a human strain of tuberculosis, which can easily be passed on to humans. (About Circus Cruelty). Since 1990, 57 people have been killed by captive elephants. 120 people were injured. When you think about how they are treated, can you blame them for attacking? What must they think of humans? They don’t ask for the miserable lifestyle circus performance subjects them to (Circus Animals). There’s a way to help these magnificent creatures and to shine a light on the issue at hand without contributing to it and to also find a way to go to a circus yourself.
You don’t have to stop going to a circus completely you can instead go to an animal free circus as a safe alternative.

There are many Animal-free-circuses that are just as fascinating to watch such as Circus Garden, Circus Millennia, and Circus Smirkus just to name a few. Because there are plenty of animal free circuses available to you, boycotting regular circuses will cause the circuses with animals to lose income which will hopefully lead to the eventual downfall to these types of circuses. Lastly, word of mouth is one of the most effective ways to get a message across. Now that you are educated on the subject, you have the ability to shine the light of this issue onto other people, hopefully this will lead to the end of this inhumane

institution.
Once again, I propose to you that circuses all over the world that have live animals as part of their main attraction should be banned due to the cruelty of the way the elephants are treated. Elephant trainers carelessly beat and abuse the elephants making them do tricks so they don’t get abused again. Elephants shouldn’t have to live like this. They don’t belong in the circus, they belong in the wild where they are free to roam and can live a normal life. You can help save these animals lives by simply not going to the circus, you can just leave them there to die. In the end think to yourself, what kind of person do you want to be?