Not All Circus Performers Are Willing Participants
West Deptford will host a disturbing display of animal exploitation this week. The Cole Bros. Circus of the Stars features dogs, tigers, and elephants—intelligent beings who perform not because they choose to, but because they are forced to under the command of human trainers wielding whips and other disciplinary weapons.
Among these trainers is Tim Frisco, a notorious elephant abuser whose unmerciful training methods are revealed in this video. Frisco instructs another elephant trainer: "Hurt 'em! [...] Make 'em scream! [...] Sink that hook into 'em. When you hear that screaming, then you know you've got their attention."
Nonhuman animals have an interest in their own lives and an interest in making their own decisions, and we should respect these interests by rejecting and refusing to fund their enslavement for human "entertainment" and profit.
In the wild and in spacious sanctuaries, elephants do not stand on their heads, as Cole elephants are forced to do. Instead, sanctuary elephants choose to walk between 3 and 15 miles per day, while wild elephants choose to walk between 30 and 50 miles per day, a choice Cole elephants are denied while confined in trailers and forced to perform on the circus tour.
Just as we can survive (and thrive) without consuming other animals as food and as clothing, we can survive without forcing other animals to perform for us. Circuses can survive as well.
As the all-human cast of Cirque du Soleil has proven, and as some of the talented human performers of the Cole show have revealed, circuses do not need nonhuman animals to be entertaining.
Now more than ever, people are recognizing the injustice inherent in the enslavement, objectification, and commodification of animals forced to perform against their will.
At least 10 countries, including Paraguay, Austria, and Singapore, have banned the use of wild animals in circuses, with Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece banning the use of all nonhuman animals. Several United States cities, from Revere, MA, to Huntington Beach, CA, from Clearwater, FL, to Port Townsend, WA, have also implemented bans.
Please consider boycotting the Cole Bros. Circus of the Stars and any circus that exploits nonhuman animals for financial profit. Please consider patronizing shows and events in which all participants are willing.
Maureen Koplow
8:28 am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Very well said. One more point needs to be made. Most people who enjoy seeing animals in the circus are animal lovers. They admire the beauty and strength of these magnificent creatures. But these people have no idea that their beloved elephants, tigers and other animals have been trained using coercion and harsh punishment. They have no idea that the animals spend almost their entire lives in cramped cages (tigers) or chained to a post (elephants), and transported in confined train cars or trucks when they are not in the show ring. The audience sees a magnificent creature surrounded by music, excitement and glitz. The animal experiences pain, fear and confusion. It is time to end this cruelty and have a humane circus without animal acts. There are plenty of circus acts that showcase amazing human athletes and clowns who perform because they love what they do. The animals have no voice, they have no choice.
Gary B
5:14 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
Agree Maureen, most people who say they 'love' animals do many horrendous things to other species (Such as eating them and wearing their skin) because for the simple fact; they've never known any different.
Here are some links for those wanting to learn more :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQCe4qEexjc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMmC4
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6361872964130308142
C. Parola
9:59 am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Agree Corey. People who believe that having elephants (& other wild animals in traveling circuses) is humane need to educate themselves, or use your common sense & just think about things. Think of the size of an elephant & about how and where an elephant would have to be kept during various times of a typical day in a traveling circus. The FACTS are that elephants (& other wild animals) are horribly and cruelly confined in order to be transported about the country to visit various locations for usually a day or two, typically chained by the ankle and forced to stand such that they can move only a step or two in any direction, and kept this way almost every hour of each day. Overnight, and in bad weather,they are kept inside a truck. En route to their next location they're confined in the back of trucks for hours and hours, and stay in those trucks for many more hours while waiting for things to get setup. There also is the extremely well documented, and admitted to, physically abusive training techniques to force them to do the "tricks" for your amusement. Educate yourself & visit any one of countless respected websites, such as those of ADI (Animal Defenders International), www.circuses.com, www.morebeautifulwild.com. Also there is an excellent very detailed extensive publication by Animal Defenders International on the Science of Suffering (re wild animals in traveling circuses) : https://www.ad-international.org/admin/download/SCS_US_rep_FINAL_Jun%2015%2008_LOW%20RES.pdf
eileen crossman
1:53 pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
We protested this circus this week in Rio Grande, Cape May County. The elephants are babies. They were seen being made to give rides to kids outside the tent. People going into the circus jeered at our protest....coming out, we got a lot of thumbs up.
We need a state law prohibiting circuses that use wildlife in NJ.
Merry Mitchell
3:01 pm on Saturday, August 25, 2012
Citing Tb exposure is a good way to get state legislatures to ban elephant rides. The CDC in Atlanta convinced Georgia to do just that.
Ted Teodoro
5:08 pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
Circus animals do not wake up in the morning and declare, " Gee, I'd really like to balance on a ball all day today!"