CIRCUSES 
 
Most people have seen a circus at some time in their life and very often those circuses have acts which involve animals.  They can be elephants balancing on an object like a big ball, lions and tigers jumping through hoops or dressed-up monkeys riding on a horse’s back.
 
While it may be fun for YOU to dress up and play games
it is very different for animals.
 
  
Animals in circuses are either kept in small cages nearly all of their lives and are only let out for training and performances. If they are too big to keep in a cage (like elephants) they are tethered.  That is, they have a chain shackled around one or more legs to keep them from walking too far. This is like keeping them in a prison. In the wild they may be used to roaming long distances every day but they cannot do this in a circus. 
  
Circus animals also have to travel very long distances between towns for performances. 
  
Because they are so restricted they can become very frustrated and start to rock back and fro. This is called stereotypic behaviour and is similar to going mad. 
  
Circuses sometimes use the excuse that they use animals to educate and amuse children, but watching them perform unnatural acts is not teaching us about them at all. 

Do you really want animals to suffer just to amuse you? 

There are lots of circuses around that do not have animal acts and they are just as exciting! 
 
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