I remember being taken to my first circus when I was about four years old; it was in a medium-sized tent out in the middle of a field in my hometown, and it was an offshoot of a Ringling Brother’s circus. I remember sitting in the middle row, both my parents at my side, and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the elephants and seals. That, after all, was supposed to be the main appeal to the show; everyone was desperate to witness the wondrous tricks these animals would be preforming.

Little did I and every other audience member know, these animals, like the majority of other animals a part of circus shows, were being brutally abused and neglected. After learning more about the ways in which these wild animals were being treated within these organizations, I made a vow to stop supporting these kinds of circuses and only give my business to those that don’t use animals. This not only helps to support non-animal circuses, which only begun to gain popularity in the 1970s and are still competing against animal circuses, but aids in the fight to end all forms of animal abuse in the entertainment industry.

Hundreds upon hundreds of videos, testimonials and other forms of evidence have surfaced in recent years that expose the horrific ways that huge circus companies, such as Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey, treat its animals. These trainers use tools, such as bullhooks, electric prods, whips and chains, on their animals to train them to do tricks and to keep them in-check. Animal welfare organizations like PETA have complied numerous undercover videos, which prove that this abuse is real. (Warning: These videos are not for the faint of heart.)

If the mistreatment these animals receive while practicing for routines seem horrifyingly, the other conditions they are kept in prove to be just as bad. For 11 months out of the year, Ringling Brothers Circus tours the country, and during that time, its animals are kept in cages. As the undercover videos from PETA also convey, these cages are inconceivably small; they are only large enough to have the animal fit snugly in. These cages are essentially the only places the animals are allowed to reside when they’re not being trained or performing a show. Large animals, such as elephants, tigers and lions, are chained and caged nearly 96 percent of the time. These conditions cause severe psychological damage to animals, which account for the more than 150 attacks made by circus animals onto humans, from 1978 to 2004.

It is explicitly clear that these circus animals are subject to gruesome and disturbing forms of abuse, and these circuses have no problem putting their animals through this kind of torture. Although Ringling Brothers recently announced that they would end its elephant acts by 2018, the majority of other circuses still continue this practice, and further propagate the harmful act of using animals in circus performances. Supporting non-animal circuses helps to remedy this problem. Their performances are only ethical human acts, and they openly condemn abusive animal circuses. PETA’s compiled list of all non-animal circuses throughout the world helps people who are concerned about this issue pick which circuses they want to support. If we can help support ethical institutions like these, there is hope for permanently ending all animal circuses in the future.