Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus: Circus performers from around the globe converge under the big top to present a show brimming with mystic dragon lore and feats of athleticism and bravery. An all access pre-show with performers and animals is open free of charge to ticket holders arriving an hour early.
DETAILS >> 7 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday, runs through July 2. U.S. Airways Center, 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. $15-$90, $10 for children 10 and younger. (800) 745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com.
NoAnimalsInTheCircus posted at 10:28 pm on Mon, Jun 25, 2012.
The overwhelming evidence and documentation of the abuse animals endure in Ringling Bros. service, as well as the $270,000 settlement fine paid by Ringling Bros. for "alleged" violations of the Animal Welfare Act - the largest ever assessed to an animal exhibitor by the USDA - is irrefutable. http://www.ad-international.org/adi_usa/go.php?id=2493 Ringling Bros. dismissed this “settlement” as “the cost of doing business.” Kenneth Feld, CEO of Feld Entertainment, testified under oath that his trainers routinely hit elephants with bullhooks, whip them, and use electric prods on them. He even admitted to witnessing this. http://motherjones.com/environment/2011/10/ringling-bros-elephant-abuse
Animals in circuses and traveling shows are subject to inhumane confinement: magnificent big cats like lions and tigers are housed in cramped cages, majestic elephants are shackled and chained in trucks and train box cars; training methods utilize violence, fear, and intimidation to make animals perform ridiculous unnatural stunts. For the few minutes you see animals“performing” they suffer a lifetime of misery. Not only is the physical abuse appalling, but the deprivation of any natural behaviors, choices and instincts is cruel.
On November 2, 2011 Congressman Jim Moran introduced The Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act, H.R. 3359, a bill extremely vital to the lives of these animals, to ending this cruelty and protecting the public. http://breakthechainus.com/ If passed, this federal bill would amend the Animal Welfare Act to restrict the use of exotic and non-domesticated animals in circuses and traveling shows.
If we all make a more informed and compassionate choice we can end this abuse and cruelty. Please do not support, promote, employ and attend circuses that use animals.