Ringling Bros. circus trainers cruelly force baby elephants to learn tricks, and it's not through a reward system, as they claim. Explore the photos that will make parents think twice about taking their child to the circus.
You may have wondered how Ringling Bros. gets 8,000-pound elephants to perform tricks like sitting up and even standing on their heads, but now you know. Ringling breaks the spirit of elephants when they're vulnerable babies who should still be with their mothers. Unsuspecting parents planning a family trip to the circus don't know about the violent training sessions with ropes, bullhooks, and electric shock prods that elephants endure, so we need you to tell them.
Below is a link to pictures proving this point:
Even more disturbing facts about this circus and animal deaths as the result of negligence and abuse:
DEATHS
June 20, 2011: Siam, a 60-year-old female Asian elephant who had been captured in the wild and shipped to the circus as an infant in 1954, was euthanized.
June 20, 2011: Siam, a 60-year-old female Asian elephant who had been captured in the wild and shipped to the circus as an infant in 1954, was euthanized.
April 26, 2011: Ringling euthanized Lutzi, a 61-year-old female Asian elephant who had spent 56 years of her life with the circus. In a sworn deposition taken during Ringling‘s 2009 trial to answer charges that its elephant-handling practices violated the federal Endangered Species Act, the general manager of Ringling‘s Center for Elephant Conservation admitted that Lutzi and other elephants had been chained by two legs on a concrete floor for 16 hours a day.
March 19, 2010: Lima, a zebra who fled the circus and ran loose through downtown Atlanta for more than 40 minutes, was euthanized as a result of injuries he sustained during his escape.
January 8, 2010: Ringling euthanized Josky, a 43-year-old female Asian elephant who was captured in the wild in 1967.
July 18, 2008: Calcutta, a 62-year-old Asian elephant who was captured in the wild in India and shipped to U.S. circuses as an infant, was euthanized by the circus.
September 11, 2006: An Asian elephant died from unreported causes. The circus did not announce this death. August 31, 2005: An Asian elephant named Gildah died. Gildah was captured in the wild and used in Siegfried & Roy‘s casino act. She was kept in solitary confinement at the Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Feld Entertainment refused a USDA recommendation to conduct a necropsy on Gildah.
August 10, 2005: According to the Asian Elephant Studbook, an 11-day-old elephant named Bertha died. The circus did not announce her birth or death. October 9, 2004: A 44-year-old Asian elephant named Roma was euthanized because of osteoarthritis.* The circus did not announce this death. A necropsy revealed that Roma had tuberculosis. August 5, 2004: An 8-month-old elephant named Riccardo was euthanized after suffering severe and irreparable fractures to both hind legs when he fell off a circus pedestal. Riccardo was undersized when he was born to Shirley, a Ringling elephant, in December 2003. Failing to wait until Shirley was 18 years old, when she would have been physically and emotionally ready to raise offspring, Ringling used Shirley for breeding when she was only 7 years old (see ―Animal Care,‖ December 5, 2003). Riccardo may have been afflicted with a bone disorder caused by malnourishment because his mother was unable to nurse him.
July 13, 2004: According to an affidavit by former Ringling lion handler Frank Hagan, a 2-year-old lion named Clyde died while traveling through the intense heat of the Mojave Desert in a poorly ventilated boxcar without being checked or given water. The lion is believed to have died from heatstroke and dehydration.
July 1, 2004: A 53-year-old Asian elephant named Calcutta 2 died because of an aortic aneurysm. The circus did not announce this death. Calcutta 2 had previously tested positive for tuberculosis (see ―Elephant Tuberculosis,‖ April 16, 2001).
May 11, 2004: Two Ringling horses were struck by a freight train as they were being unloaded from the circus train near Dayton, Ohio. One horse died instantly, and the other was euthanized at the scene.
We demand that the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence Rhode Island, refuse to host the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus in 2012 each year thereafter.
Do not profit from the suffering and death of innocent animals! You are supposed to be a venue for enjoyment and entertainment. This circus is barbaric and has no respect for life. You condone and promote animal abuse if you host this horrific event at your establishment.
SIGN THIS PETITION
http://www.change.org/petitions/dunkin-donuts-center-providence-ri-do-not-host-circus-baby-elephant-tortured-during-training-using-electric-shocks
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