Ringling Brothers' and Barnum & Bailey Circus

What Cole Brothers' Circus Doesn't Want You To Know About Its Animals
Could They Be Any More Despicable?

Newspapers around the country reported about Apollo, a tiger with the Cole Bros. Circus (formerly the Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus) who escaped from his cage Saturday, July 31, 2004. The tiger who is said to have slipped through a crack when he was being transferred between cages. After taking a half-mile stroll, sending onlookers fleeing, Apollo was lured into his enclosure by circus workers.

Run-ins with the law are nothing new for the Cole Bros. In 2000, the then Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. circus was fined $10,000 by the USDA for using a bullhook to abuse elephants. In 1999, a New Jersey humane society charged the circus with cruelty to animals for overloading and overworking a disabled elephant.

Two Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. elephants who were described as malnourished and neglected died suddenly within a two-week period in August 1999. In five separate incidents, Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. elephants went on rampages during performances, killing two members of the public, injuring more than a dozen others, and causing tens of thousands of dollars in property damage.

Animals in circuses lead lives of misery. Elephants are shackled, deprived of a normal life, and beaten with bullhooks on the sensitive skin of their faces and toes, and behind their knees. Tigers are confined in small cages when not "performing" and are trained with force and cruelty.

According to a USDA letter, a white tiger traveling with Beatty-Cole gave birth to two cubs while the circus was performing in Bayonet Point, Fla. Both cubs were pulled from their mother and died several days after birth. The USDA wrote, "[White tigers] appear to be less healthy than tigers without the genes that cause the color variation." 4/25/03.

CLYDE BEATTY CIRCUS: 2 ELEPHANTS DEAD IN 2 WEEKS

Conti and Pete, two Clyde Beatty elephants who were suffering lameness and arthritis after years of performing, were retired by the circus after pressure from a concerned public. One month later, in August 1999, they were suddenly dead-within two weeks of each other. One elephant, Pete, was found to have collapsed on the ground and lay there for 2 1/2 days before she died. Conti died two weeks later.

On June 13, 2000, former Clyde Beatty elephant keeper Tom Rider testified before Congress about the sad life of Pete: "When Pete did not perform her act properly, she was taken to the tent and laid down, and five trainers beat her with bullhooks. Pete is now dead."

In April 1999, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture charged Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers’ Circus with violation of the Animal Welfare Act, citing that four of their six elephants had wounds caused by abusive use of a bullhook. All of the elephants’ feet were found to be in horrible condition showing years of neglect. In January 2000, the circus agreed to consult with experts on how to better handle the elephants. Yet in February 2000 the USDA found new wounds on two of the four elephants’ bodies that were caused by beatings with a hooked instrument.

Helen, an elephant currently with the Clyde Beatty circus, was viewed in March 2000 by three veterinarians and was determined to have a chronic, degenerative condition causing pain-related lameness, which is aggravated by grueling circus routines. Helen was forced to give rides and pull a caravan of heavy tiger cages. It was recommended that she be removed from service. The NJ SPCA charged Clyde Beatty with animal cruelty in August 1999 for overloading and overworking Helen. Helen remains with the circus.

Because of the cruel and unnatural confinement in cages, chains, pens, and forced travel in trucks and trailers, animals often rebel. Clyde Beatty Circus has had multiple incidents where their elephants have stampeded into the crowd. In 1995 in Forest Park, Queens, two female elephants broke free during a performance, causing a ruckus of terrified patrons, 12 of whom were injured. These two elephants were seen being beaten on the head prior to a performance 2 months earlier in a different location. The circus promised to send them to a sanctuary but instead gave them to a corporation that puts elephants in circuses!

When circus representatives tell you that they "love" the animals and that they only use "positive reinforcement and treats" to train them, PLEASE KNOW THAT THEY ARE LYING!! Their interest is financial gain. If only treats were used in training, elephant handlers would not hold a bullhook in their hands whenever they are with the elephants. A bullhook it is a weapon, which is known to the elephants as being a tool of violence. Henry North Ringling, founder of Ringling Brothers, said in his autobiography, "It's not usually a pretty sight to see big cats trained. When a trainer starts off, ropes are put around their (cats) necks and they're chained to pedestals to choke them down and make them obey. All sorts of other brutalities are used to force them to respect the trainer and learn the tricks. They work from fear."

YOUR FAMILY CAN CHOOSE NON-ANIMAL CIRCUSES

There are many circuses, including Cirque du Soleil, The New Pickle Circus, Circus Oz, and Cirque Eloize that do not use animals but offer clowns, trapeze artists, jugglers and other talented human performers. Circuses with animals do not teach children about the natural behaviors of wild animals; they only teach that we can confine and dominate over animals. Please do not financially support an institution that lies to you and your children about their treatment of animals. Consider what goes on behind the scenes, not only what you see in a 2 hour show. Circuses often claim that it is a tradition to use animals. However, a tradition must not continue if it involves cruelty and suffering. We need to work to protect these animals’ shrinking habitats, not imprison and enslave them in circuses!

Contact the Cole Bros. Circus and tell them how you feel about their abuse and confinement of animals, let them know that you will spread the word of their animal abuse, and that you are boycotting their circus. Ask them to become a non-animal circus. Contact: Renee Storey, VP-Administration, Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers' Circus, P.O. Box 127, Deland FL 32721 ph: (904) 736-0071 fax: (904) 738-7860.

Please make this your last animal circus and educate others to do the same. Choose non-animal circuses and other family events that do not exploit animals.

"But for the use of physical punishment by their oppressors, animals would never be part of a circus"
-- Richard Pryor

Teach your children to appreciate wild animals in their natural state and to protect and preserve their habitat.

Choose Circuses Without Animals.

For more information e-mail IDA@IDAUSA.org.