Common Questions

The animal circuses seem safe to me; why are they called a "public safety risk"?

Wild animals are always unpredictable, and there is inherent risk in putting a performing wild animal in close proximity to an unsuspecting public. Since 1990 performing elephants have caused 30 human deaths and over 100 injuries, and captive big cats have attacked 75 people, with about one-third of those attacks fatal.
Daphne Sheldrick, MBE, UNEP Global 500 Laureate has 43 years of experience working with African elephants. She warns us, “Elephants held in captivity invariably end up psychotic and dangerous and the track record of circus elephants speaks for itself.”
Lisa Landress, Senior Elephant Keeper at the San Diego Zoo for 11 years, warns parents to keep their children away from elephants. As she puts it, “They can move so quickly, and these types of things [mishaps and attacks] can happen in two seconds. That’s what the public doesn’t understand…and what they need to get.”
What is the acceptable level of risk? Is it okay if one child dies or is injured in Minneapolis at the circus? The obvious answer is no, and knowing what we know about the public safety risks, it is incumbent upon our city politicians to effectively remove the risk by prohibiting wild animal circuses.

The animals look okay, so how do you know they’re treated inhumanely?

The appearance of an animal rarely tells the whole story. When you see animals performing in the circus, you are seeing only what the circus wants you to see. You do not see the training sessions the animal experienced. You do not see the discipline sessions the animal may receive, and you often do not see the chains and cages the animal spends up to 22 hours a day living in. Ex- circus workers have testified to Congress about daily beatings of the elephants, and undercover videos have shown abusive training sessions, and frequent use of sharp hooks and whips to control animals. The videos also show animals in tiny cages or on chains, rocking, bobbing their heads, and swaying for hours on end, sometimes while standing in their own feces and urine. That is the unfortunate reality behind the glamour of what you see at the circus.

Don’t laws protect circus animals?

The Animal Welfare Act provides a set of minimal standards for circus animals, and the US Department of Agriculture is charged with enforcing the AWA. Unfortunately, the standards are poorly enforced. There are approximately 80 inspectors watching about 2000 exhibitors nationwide. The USDA has admitted its own inadequacy in both inspection frequency and corrections of violations. The long lists of citations most circuses have attests to the fact that even with its limited ability to enforce the law, the USDA catches circuses often in flagrant non-compliance with the AWA. Disturbingly, there is no specific federal oversight of training sessions, and no laws against routine use of the bullhook or whips.
The circus currently brought to Minneapolis, the George Carden Circus, has a lengthy list of citations to the AWA. It has been in serious legal trouble in Canada, where it pleaded guilty to animal cruelty for keeping bears in filthy, undersized cages for 23 hours a day.
Instead of relying on weakly enforced federal laws, Minneapolis needs to enact its own legislation to ensure its citizens’ safety. We can take action on the local level to ensure the city is not participating nor promoting inhumane ways of treating wild animals.

Don’t circuses help protect endangered species?

Captive elephant breeding programs have produced few elephants, and the number of adult elephant deaths has outpaced the number of births. 59 of the 77 elephants in North American circuses were captured in the wild. None of the elephants born in captivity will be released into the wild. The real problems affecting endangered species like the Asian elephant are loss of habitat and poaching for their ivory tusks. If circuses were genuinely interested in elephant conservation, they would be investing in field conservation efforts aimed at restoring lost habitat and reducing poaching.

Are elephant rides safe?

In March 2000, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association advised its member zoos to discontinue elephant rides because of public safety risks.

Don’t my children learn about wild animals at the circus?

The wild animals in the circus do not exhibit their natural behaviors of foraging, walking, hunting, or socializing. Instead they are paraded through a series of tricks they would never do on their own in the wild. A bear does not, of its own accord, ride a bike in the woods, tigers do not jump through hoops of fire, and elephants do not walk on their hind legs nor balance on small surfaces in the wild. David Hancocks, former Director of the Woodland Zoo in Australia aptly describes it, “…Animals in the circus are portrayed as mere caricatures of their kind.”
In today’s world, it is imperative we teach our children the intrinsic value of the environment and the wild animals that inhabit it. When so many quality entertainment options are now available to us and our children, it is simply necessary for us to re-think our ideas about using wild animals in the circus. It is time to move toward the safe and humane option of animal free circuses in Minneapolis. top