Ringling Bros. and circuses that utilize animals epitomize animal cruelty - not family entertainment. There is no educational value for children who attend animal employed circuses. Seeing unnatural tricks performed by wild animals does not teach children the true nature of these animals or to respect and appreciate animals, only that it is acceptable to mistreat and exploit animals for entertainment purposes.

The overwhelming evidence and documentation of the abuse animals endure in Ringling Bros. service, as well as the $270,000 settlement fine paid by Ringling Bros. for "alleged" violations of the Animal Welfare Act - the largest ever assessed to an animal exhibitor by the USDA - is irrefutable.  http://www.ad-international.org/adi_usa/go.php?id=2493  Ringling Bros. dismissed this “settlement” as “the cost of doing business.” Kenneth Feld, CEO of Feld Entertainment, admitted under oath that his trainers routinely hit elephants with bullhooks, whip them, and use electric prods on them. He even admitted to witnessing this.
http://motherjones.com/environment/2011/10/ringling-bros-elephant-abuse

Animals in circuses and traveling shows are subject to inhumane confinement: magnificent big cats like lions and tigers are housed in cramped cages, majestic elephants are shackled and chained in trucks and train box cars; training methods utilize violence, fear, and intimidation to make animals perform ridiculous unnatural stunts. For the few minutes you see animals “performing” they suffer a lifetime of misery. Not only is the physical abuse appalling, but the deprivation of any natural behaviors, choices and instincts is cruel.

“Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation” is nothing more than a breeding and torture “training” facility. If you've ever wondered how they get an 8,000 pound elephant to perform the ridiculous stunts you see – this is where it starts, with baby elephants ripped away from their mothers to endure cruel, violent, painful training sessions using ropes, bullhooks, and electric shock prods. Warning: Graphic http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/bound-babies.asp

On November 2, 2011 Congressman Jim Moran introduced The Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act, H.R. 3359, a bill extremely vital to the lives of these animals, to ending this cruelty and protecting the public. http://breakthechainus.com/

Those of us who care about and respect animals will continue to advocate for their welfare and protection by raising awareness to their suffering; the more knowledgeable the public becomes about the plight of circus animals, the less inclined they will be to support and attend circuses that abuse and exploit these magnificent animals.

Thank-you, "TEAPA" for bringing this to the Patch reader's
attention. I have four sons (all grown now), and they have never once been taken to a circus. Other parents thought we were cruel for "depriving" our children of this "wonderful, wholesome fun for the whole family"...but I taught my sons differently. I was taken to a circus one time when I was a young girl, and even then I was so horrified at how the animals were kept in small cages, that I knew I would never go again. And I didn't. PETA has done a good job of trying to educate the public, but we need more people like yourself to also spread the truth about what life is like for these poor animals. Namaste, fellow Animal Lover!