What I Saw Behind the Scenes at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus by Archele Hundley

Dear Friend,

As an eyewitness to the barbaric practices that take place behind the scenes at Ringling, I'd like to tell you exactly what happens so that you can help me spread the word to people who still think that circuses that use animals are good family "entertainment."

I joined Ringling last April because I wanted the opportunity to work with animals every day. I was totally unprepared for what I saw. Video : http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=ringling_expose

The public has no idea that Ringling's handlers are taught to keep the animals afraid. I saw the elephants, horses, and camels get hit, punched, beaten, and whipped by circus staff members. Everyone from the head of animal care to totally inexperienced handlers abused animals. The abuse did not take place once in a while; it happened every day.

Witnessing this abuse left me a nervous wreck. I routinely complained to my supervisors about what I knew was outright cruelty to animals, but I was told repeatedly that I was overreacting. Just a few months after I'd joined, I quit Ringling because I couldn't stand the cruelty inherent in the circus any longer.

I was an animal lover before I joined Ringling. Now, I am also an animal activist. I have joined PETA's efforts to stop the horrific violence inflicted on animals by Ringling: http://www.circuses.com/

I am a mother of five children, and having seen what goes on behind the scenes at Ringling, I will never again take them to a circus that exploits animals.

Among all the horrors I saw behind the scenes at Ringling, one event stands out. That was the day I saw Ringling's head trainer viciously assault a sweet elephant who was chained by her front and back legs, unable to escape from the blows. For at least half an hour, the trainer beat her with a bullhook—a heavy, steel-tipped club that Ringling's handlers use frequently. At one point, I saw the trainer swing the bullhook into the elephant's ear canal with all his force as she screamed in pain. http://www.circuses.com/pdfs/AnimalFreeCircuses.pdf

That particular trainer was known to have a violent temper. On June 11, 2006, I saw him lead two elephants, whom I believe were called Luna and Tonka, within inches of a man who was videotaping them. Luna and Tonka are Ringling's most aggressive elephants, and I was shocked that the trainer would so recklessly endanger this man's life. I then saw the trainer attack the man with his bullhook. It was only later that I learned that the person the trainer had threatened worked for PETA. http://www.circuses.com/CrudestShowOnEarth.asp

The PETA staff members who tracked our tour stood in stark contrast to the bullies working for Ringling. I observed the tireless PETA staff members from afar and was impressed by their composure, dedication, and compassion. That's why I knew I had to tell PETA everything I'd seen when I decided to leave Ringling. http://www.circuses.com/ringling_employees_tell.asp

Now that I've come forward, I know that PETA—and members like you—will make sure that Ringling faces consequences for its heartless cruelty. Let's make sure the elephants' story is told.

Sincerely,



Archele Hundley

I can only imagine the kind of resources it takes to put investigators on the road in order to follow a company like Ringling for an entire year. But if it weren't for PETA's willingness to do so, no one would ever know what's being done to Ringling's animals. Thank you for supporting their work. https://ebiz.isiservices.com/peta-e/peta/donation.asp?section_code=H07Q251Q&ask4=--20-25-50-100-o

animals are not meant to be human entertainment.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus could have jobs as torturers at Abu Grab prison.

is full of horror stories about abused elephants. TES provides an old age home, so to speak, for these elephants taken away from zoos and circuses for abuse, etc.

Zoos and circuses need to be shut down!

http://www.tappedintoelephants.com/asp/index.php

http://www.tappedintoelephants.com/asp/index.php

on edit: live-cam

if animals are involved, that is. The practice is inhumane and needs to fall by the wayside. I'm not overly enamored of zoological gardens, but it's a helluva lot better way to view animals than a frickin' circus!

Not just because of animal abuse, but because of the circus' longtime practice of degrading people who happened to be different via their "freak shows." Plus, one of the worst fire disasters in history happened at a circus--due in part because of the boneheaded idea to waterproof their tent with paraffin and petroleum. 167 people died horrible deaths--including many children. I'd have thought the circus would have been sued into oblivion...but IMO instead just got a slap on the wrist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartford_Circus_Fire

what's all this crap about 'cellphone cameras' and so on....if god wants something to happen, then dammit let it happen and don't waste bandwidth crying about it. No one ever makes tape of bush cursing 'the c**ts' or smoking his marlboros while guzzling whiskey. The Iraqis are unable to take and post pics of dead/dying kids, to excite world compassion etc (same with Palestinians, for some reason; maybe that's too much trouble)...The last word though has to be the god's. They like it and thus allow it, or they don't, and reveal it to the world.
Why didn't Saddam just bugger off to Russia or somewhere before the US invasion/occupation of his doomed country? cuz GOD didn't want that, that's why....
(the idea that circus animals are being brutalized in broad daylight, is too much for me- fukk this fukking planet)

The first time I went to the Moscow circus, the animal acts were a dog and cat act (really funny, actually, since only one or two cats did all the tricks while the others stole their treats) and a pigeon act (while on ice skates--very cool). The second time, though, the third act was all tigers, and I was crying by the end and fully sick to my stomach.

The way that guy beat and hurt those tigers in front of all of us made me ill. We all agreed that we would've cheered on the tigers if they'd turned on that sick bastard. Such proud amazing animals craven and scared with their tails between their legs.

it was amazing how i had to explain why i was doing this to people who knew me. and it isn't just the abuse the animals experience. the babies are often taken from their mothers at a very early age and the fact that everything they are doing is unnatural. the whole thing is just cruel. and if ringling is doing this can you imagine what the smaller trashier shows are doing...

I spent time behind the scenes at Barnum. My friends saw the lion tamer dismembered. It's ugly.

I hate all cages.