The Circus Issue in a Nutshell

Wild animal circuses pose several problems for the City of Minneapolis. Fortunately, the one current wild animal circus that is brought here for three days every fall can easily be replaced with an animal-free circus. This replacement would alleviate the problems caused by animal circuses, would allow the City to continue to financially benefit from the new, animal-free circus performing at the Target Center, and would allow the Zuhrah Shrine to continue its annual fundraiser- a win-win for all concerned.

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Wild animal circuses pose a public safety risk for Minneapolis.

Putting wild animals in close proximity to an unsuspecting public has shown itself to be a dangerous mistake, time and time again. Between 1983 and 2000, 28 people were killed in accidents involving captive wild or exotic animals, and over 70 others were injured. In 1991 in NC a leopard traveling in the circus escaped from the ring, ran amok, and ended up biting a 3 year-old spectator on the neck. In Honolulu in 1994 an elephant named Tyke during a performance killed her trainer, injured her groom, and went on a rampage that left dozens of spectators injured. She rampaged through the streets of Honolulu until she was shot dead by police. The public watched as they used 87 bullets to finally kill her. In PA in 1997 a tiger killed his trainer while 200 school children in the audience watched. Do we want that to happen in Minneapolis?

Capturing and containing a rampaging wild animal is often left up to local law enforcement. Frequently city police forces are not trained to do so, nor are they equipped with appropriate tools or weapons to keep the public safe in a timely manner.

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Wild animal circuses cannot, by nature, provide adequate, humane conditions for the animals.

Keeping wild animals in intense confinement for up to 22 hours a day (elephants chained by one front leg and one back leg, and big cats and primates in cages so small they can hardly turn around) is an unavoidable necessity for traveling circuses. There is simply no way for the circuses to provide the space the animals need to engage in natural behaviors. As a result, the animals become increasingly stressed, and can be seen doing stereotypic behavior, such as rocking back and forth for hours on end, biting the bars of their cages, or engaging in self- mutilation. These are psychologically disturbed behaviors that the public rarely sees.

Trainers and animal handlers from within the circus industry have come forward in the last 10 years to expose horrific training sessions and daily abuse of animals in some circuses. Some are better than others, but every major animal circus, including the George Carden Circus- the one currently brought to Minneapolis to perform each fall- has a record of abuses of the Animal Welfare Act.

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The federal laws and agencies that regulate animal circuses do not sufficiently protect the public from harm, nor do they protect the animals from unacceptable treatment.

The USDA, the federal agency charged with overseeing the wild animal exhibitors nationwide, has admitted in its own audit that its inspectors did not inspect facilities with reliable frequency, nor did they enforce timely corrections of violations during inspections. The long list of citations that every circus company has attests to the fact that even with its limited ability to enforce the law, the USDA catches the circuses often in flagrant violation of the Animal Welfare Act.

The violations range from a lack of veterinary care, to a lack of adequate food and water, to charges and convictions of animal cruelty for beatings, injuries, and deaths to the animals.

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The one wild animal circus currently performing each fall has shown diminishing financial benefit to the City of Minneapolis over the past few years.

For the Shrine Circus, total revenue decreased by 43% year-over-year. While this decline is partly attributable to one fewer show in 2004 compared to 2003, it is mainly the result of a 27% decrease in revenue per show. Concession stand revenues dropped by 55% while net ticket sales revenue dropped by 40%.

As a result of the decreased revenue produced by the Shrine Circus, tax revenues declined for both the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis by 43% and 45%, respectively. The largest tax revenue decline came from food and beverage sales, which experienced a 56% drop in revenue. Ticket sales represented the second largest revenue decline with a drop of 40%.

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Animal-free circuses, like Cirque de Soleil and the Moscow State Circus, have grown increasingly popular lately. Minneapolis stands to gain financially by allowing only these types of circuses to perform here.

The growing popularity of animal-free circuses in combination with the inherent problems associated with wild animal circuses provides a strong argument that the City of Minneapolis and its citizens would benefit with passage of an ordinance that would allow only animal-free circuses to perform here.