Big Top, Big Trouble Essay

Our socials project is about the development of the circus in the Victorian Era and how it compares to circuses today.The Circus was a place of entertainment that could transport people into a surreal world full of the indescribable. Through using trained animals, human oddities, and people with unusual talents the Circus achieved an almost magical effect on people.

Think about how we will look back on our cruel forms of entertainment in the future. Will we be proud of the way we treated these great animals, with abuse as neglect? Today we turn our heads away from reality and what happens behind the scenes of animal entertainment. However, we can’t turn our heads forever. Around the world, there is so much more to animal entertainment than what meets the eye. These animals have been torn away from their beautiful, natural homes and brought to a prison of concrete. In these prisons, they are beaten, starved and tortured all for our money and entertainment. These animals lives should not be taken from them for us. Our money and happiness should not be worth these animal’s lives. Circus, theme park and zoo animals all suffer from aggression towards trainers, mental disabilities and physical injuries. These animals should not have to suffer any longer.

During this time period, there was little to no regulation of the circus crew or the animals. This was the situation in a Water for Elephants. To top it all off, the show was owned and operated by a money hungry and cruel person, who would do anything to save money such as not paying the workers, not feeding the workers, not giving the exotic animals proper care and the list goes on. But in the circus, the audience seem to buy into the performer's deceptions. The audience is completely oblivious and are deceived by this circus, but in reality the circus is not as perfect as they make it

I really enjoyed going to the circus as a child but, I never knew how it was planned out. After reading my novel I’m surprised at how many problems a circus faces, even though it’s such an exciting place.

Animals are locked up and abused. ”RaeLeann Smith stats in the article that ”In the United States, no government agency monitors animal training sessions.First,Animals get beaten while chained up to bleed and get really injured.And are forced to perform whether their hurt or sick.Former Ringling animal crew employees Archele Hundley and Bob Tom contacted PETA independently after witnessing what they described as routine animal abuse in the circus, including a 30-minute beating of an elephant in Tulsa, Okla., that left the animal screaming and bleeding profusely from her wounds.”

The main idea of the article is that the nation’s most famous circus is shutting down after being open for 146 years. In the article the author states why the circus is shutting down and the author organizes the article by putting the least important reasons to the most important reasons.

The life of a circus animal is hard and demanding. It is not an acceptable way of life for an animal. Circuses would quickly lose their appeal if the public were more aware of their mistreatments of these animals. Many circuses do not have much money and as a result the animals suffer from inadequate care. These animals spend most of their time in small cages used for transportation. The Animal Welfare Act provides cage requirements, but many circuses fail to follow this law. Even the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus was cited for 65 violations over a two-year period according to Florence Lambert. When traveling, animals spend hours, even days between sites in confinement..

Some children think of running away to join the circus as a fantasy, while animals performing in circuses think of running away as a fantasy. Elephants used in circuses are captives who are obligated to perform confusing, uncomfortable, repetitive, and often painful acts. There is no doubt that circuses would lose their appeal if more people were aware of the brutal techniques used to train the elephants as well as the cramped traveling confinement, and diseases' elephants develop throughout the years of cruelty.

A circus is a place where there is a big red and white striped tent. Inside this tent there are animals with talents or trained animals with their trainer. There are also some acrobats doing tricks for people to get entertained. There is also people with their kids and trying to get them to know more about the circus . This is how a circus may look like .

Whit Honea, cofounder of Dads4Change.com and a father of two boys, said they generally don’t attend circuses because of the “abusive treatment” of the animals” (Wallace, 2016) It’s like the old saying, “how would you like it if they did that to you?” If you were compelled to be seized from your family and raised only to be examined at and trained to do tricks in front of different simulated people every day for your entire life. The outside world, only to be an enigma forever. Evidently, the life of a zoo animal can be relatable to the state of being behind bars in a prison until your days come to an end. This being said, our impending generation’s perception is that wild animals rights and the freedoms they deserve is way more essential than the amusement people get when the witness exotic animals up close and personal in a limited facility which they lay in

While it is a federal requirement for sick or injured animals to receive medical care and approval by a veterinarian before performing (Cruelest), that is not always the case. “The show must go on”, as the old adage goes, even if that means forcing the star to perform tricks while gravely ill. In 1998, a major incident occurred in the fight for animal rights. Kenny, a three year-old Asian elephant owned by the Ringling Bros. circus, became lethargic and listless, and as the day progressed, began to bleed. Though the circus veterinarian prescribed antibiotics and recommended he skip the shows until signs of definite improvement occurred, it was show day, and an eager audience was waiting for Kenny to entertain them. The young elephant performed his third show for the day, under threat of physical punishment by his trainer, and was returned to his shackles afterward. Unfortunately, later that night, the circus crew found Kenny lying dead on the ground (Cruelest). The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) longtime animal welfare lead

Animals have been a main focus in circus performances around the world for many centuries; however, in recent history, there have been far more regulations put on the use of these creatures, stemming mainly from how they are treated by both their trainers and the circus as a whole. Whether it be on the federal or local and state-level, there has been a definite increase in the questionable legality of America’s circus industry due to the neglect and abuse of the participating animals, courts’ decisions highlighting the true importance of the issue. These rulings make one ask the question: What types of regulations could be put in place in all circuses to ensure that the animals involved are not abused in the process? In the end, many

The second premise is that the elephants are not poorly treated in the circuses or in other word they do not receive cruel treatment. They are provided with water and food as well as proper environment for them to live in. They do suffer any pain in the cause of their stay in the circuses. The elephants are also provided with veterinary services that they would not receive while at the

A circus is a group of entertainers, which consists of includes clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, jugglers, unicyclists, and other object manipulation. The term ‘circus through many formats over 150 years of modern history. Philip Ashley was the ‘father’ of the circus. He opened his first circus in England in 1768. The early circuses consisted of equestrian skills with horsemanship performances. The performances developed through the next 50 years with large scaled theatrical recreations. The traditional format consisted the ringmaster who used to introduce the performances.

“When I look at animals held captive I think of slavery. Animals in circuses represent the domination and oppression we have fought against for so long. They wear the same chains and shackles.” The United States Animal Welfare has standards of care. When looking at the major circuses, they have all been cited for violating the standards. Animals feel just as much, if not more emotions and humans. Circuses should be eliminated completely because of the animals dangerous living conditions, the long term damage it does to the animals, and the mammals could pose a potential threat to the spectators.