On January 14, 2017, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced that it was closing after 146 years. On May 21, 2017, it closed its curtains one last time. While some people might be shocked and saddened by the closing of the “Greatest Show on Earth,” I couldn’t be happier and more grateful about the end of the saddest, cruelest show on earth.
For decades, multiple circus companies like the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus have been the target of animal rights activists’ protests due to the improper, cruel treatment of the circus animals, and for good reason. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has been fined multiple times for violating multiple animal rights laws set by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In a study conducted by PETA, some of the citations the circus has obtained include failing to provide proper medical attention to elephants in need, forcing elephants to perform while being sick, as well as the USDA fining Feld Entertainment (the parent company of Ringling) $270,000 for failing to settle “dozens of noncompliances dating from June 2007 to August 2011” (PETA). Besides these violations, multiple elephants have died while under the care of their trainers, the USDA investigated the circus after a lion died while under the care of trainers (it was later revealed that the lion died due to heat exhaustion and dehydration), keeping animals in rusty cages, as well as using bull hooks, ropes, and electric prods to discipline elephants, among other violations (People).
Despite reading about the cruel treatment these animals receive, I understand why millions of people have seen the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus since it debuted in 1919. It's a sight to behold when you see elephants and lions stand on their back legs, just like it's jaw-dropping when you see a lion jump over three other lions, but do you know how horrendous and inhumane it is to have animals do these tricks and put on these performances? Did you know that elephants can spend 100 hours in a cage while traveling from one show to another? Did you know baby elephants are taken from their mothers at 21 months, despite the fact that wild female elephants stay with one another their entire lives? Did you know that circus animals are beaten even for the slightest act of disobedience, and that they are trained to fear their trainers? Animals aren't meant to be circus performers, just like elephants shouldn't be ridden on let alone stand on their two back legs (PETA).
It's absolutely disturbing and so heartbreaking reading about the cruel treatment that circus animals have received for decades, and I am horrified that millions of people have continued to see any circus despite hearing about the horrendous treatment of these animals. I get it; there's always going to be people protesting one event or cause after another, but don't you think it means something when a circus as popular as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has violated animal rights laws multiple times, even obtaining a fine as large as $270,000? While I will never understand people who would sit through a circus despite the fact that animals are receiving such terrible treatment, I applaud the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for shutting down, even if it was only for high production costs and weakening ticket sales.
While there are still 19 circus companies operating throughout the United States, it's becoming more difficult for circuses to use animals in their show due to the introduction of a bill like the Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act, which "Amends the Animal Welfare Act by establishing a prohibition on the use of exotic or wild animals in performances (e.g., circus, ride, carnival, or parade) of a traveling animal act) (Congress.gov), and also because "Thirty-four other countries have instituted similar bans, as have dozens of cities and counties in the U.S." (National Geographic Instagram).
While it may be the end of an era for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and the end of a show that has given millions of people memories that they will never forget, I applaud the countless efforts made by people vying to stop the cruel treatment of these beautiful, exotic animals, and I look forward to the day that circuses outlaw the use of exotic animals for good. While it's saddening that this family-owned circus is no more, causing hundreds of people to lose their jobs, I am ecstatic that dozens of animals will hopefully get a second chance at a better life, and that they will get to live their remaining days in peace.
