12 Reasons to Boycott the Circus

Circus Elephant

Image credit jonbruck

As an animal lover, it’s hard to know where to draw the line when it comes to animals in entertainment. Circuses have almost always been criticized for their treatment of animals & after doing research for this post, I’ll not visit another one.

Not A Good Message

Many of the animals used in this type of entertainment are facing extinction in the wild. What kind of message are we delivering to our youth if we continue to cage wild animals and force them to perform tricks for our amusement?

If you love the idea of the circus, there are always animal-free options, where performers actually get to choose their work. Teach your children to respect animals, and enlist their support for boycotting circuses that have animal acts – do it for the animals.

If all of that doesn’t convince you, perhaps these 12 reasons will…

1. Lions

Circus Lion

Image credit Big Cat Rescue
2. Zebras

Circus Zebra

Image credit German rios
3. Tigers

Circus Tiger

Image credit Hyaground
4. Giraffes

Circus Giraffe

Image credit Leonid Mamchenkov
5. Horses

Circus Horse

Image credit The Boston Globe
6. Jaguars

Circus Jaguar

Image credit brianwallace
7. Monkeys

Circus Monkeys

Image credit bepatou
8. Camels

Circus Camel

Image credit Andreas Solberg
9. Ponies

Circus Ponies

Image credit Thomas Hawk
10. Elephants

Circus Elephant

Image credit Andreas Solberg
11. Bears

Circus Bear

Image credit The Sun
12. Donkeys

Circus Donkey

Image credit Thomas Hawk

Really, Do You Need Any More Reasons?

For more information about the abuse circus animals suffer at the hands of their captors, please visit Circuses.com.

3 Comments on “12 Reasons to Boycott the Circus

  1. Rokcet

    Animals are not for entertainment. They are for education, studying, and admiring, yes. For meat, milk, eggs, and as beasts of burden, of course. And certainly for enjoyment and company.
    But irrespective of their ‘purpose’ all animals deserve a decent animal’s life. With sufficient space, environmental variation, and diverse social interaction.
    They are not getting that in circuses.

    “But the circus – with animals – is an important part of our culture.”

    Certainly. But so is witch burning, and quartering protestants, etc. It all happened. And we should remember that. But it doesn’t happen anymore. Because we have changed since then. We’ve learned. We’ve evolved.
    Well, some of us have, anyway.

    Reply
  2. Icare

    Animals are not for entertainment or sport, for fashion, for food or for science and research. The animals of the world exist for their own reasons; and those who are bred to supply such practices only want to live the life they were given free of harm and worry. Live and Let Live

    Reply
  3. Hmmmmmmmm

    This list of reasons to boycott circuses is missing something:
    13. Humans who are paid to perform idiotic unnatural inhumane stunts against their will

    Reply

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