Bears, elephants, tigers, and other animals do not voluntarily ride bicycles, stand on their heads, balance on balls, or jump through rings of fire. They don't perform these and other difficult tricks because they want to they perform them because they're afraid of what will happen if they don't.

For animals in circuses, there is no such thing as "positive reinforcement"—only varying degrees of punishment and deprivation. To force them to perform these meaningless and physically uncomfortable tricks, trainers use whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks, and other painful tools of the trade.

Animals in circuses spend about 11 months of the year traveling. For thousands of hours, over long distances, they may be chained while not performing, transported in vehicles that lack climate control, and forced to stand or lie in their own waste.

Animals in circuses pose threats to public health and safety : Animals in circuses have escaped from their enclosures and freely roamed outside the property from where they are performing. Escaped circus animals pose serious threats to public safety. In addition to causing major property damage, they can place local residents at risk from potential injury. Elephants in the circus may carry tuberculosis (TB). Public records show that many circuses have a history of tuberculosis in their elephants, and that many have used TB-positive elephants in public performances.

Frustrated by years of beatings, bullhooks, and shackles, some elephants snap. And when an elephant rebels against a trainer's physical dominance, trainers cannot protect themselves—let alone the public. In 1994, an elephant named Tyke killed her trainer and injured 12 spectators before being gunned down while running terrified through downtown Honolulu (she was shot almost 100 times). In 1992, Officer Blayne Doyle was forced to shoot and kill Janet, an elephant who charged out of the Great American Circus arena with five children on her back.

In more than 35 dangerous incidents since 2000, elephants have bolted from circuses, run amok through streets, crashed into buildings, attacked members of the public, and killed and injured handlers.

What We Can Do

• When the circus comes to town, organize a demonstration to inform the public that demeaning stunts performed by animals in the ring are the result of behind-the-scenes bullhook beatings and other abusive training methods. Let your local news outlet know about the suffering of animals used in circuses. 
• Start a campaign to amend the cruelty-to-animals ordinance in your community so that it includes language forbidding the use of bullhooks and other manual, mechanical, and chemical devices intended to cause pain and suffering.
• Most importantly, boycott all circuses that use animals and choose animal-friendly entertainment options instead.