Media Release: Reaction as America’s largest animal circus closes after 146 years

MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 15 JANUARY 2017   America's largest animal circus closes after 146 years, ADI calls on all circuses to end wild animal acts   Animal Defenders International (ADI) has welcomed the announcement by Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus to close its animal shows from May, citing declines in ticket sales after earlier announcing a 'mood shift' among their consumers .After decades of exposing the cramped, barren conditions with long periods of time tied up and chained with no freedom of movement and a brutal training culture, ADI believes that public opinion has ended the suffering.   Modern audiences now have many entertainment options and do not want to see shows where animals are made to suffer for a few minutes of entertainment.   Jan Creamer, ADI President, said: "After decades of exposing the suffering of animals in circuses behind the scenes, we are pleased to hear that Ringlings has finally bowed to public opinion – it was a mistake for them not to see the trend away from animal shows to human-only performances over a decade ago. Circuses can survive without the animal performances."   Studies of the use of wild animals in traveling circuses show that in the circumstances of a traveling show, circuses cannot meet the needs of wild animals. Animals are confined in small spaces, deprived of physical and social needs, spending excessive amounts of time tied or chained up, shut in transporters and unable to move around.The abnormal, stereotypical behaviors seen in circus animals, rocking, swaying and pacing, indicate that they are under stress and not coping with their environment. ADI's video evidence has shown how these animals are forced to perform tricks through physical violence, fear and intimidation.   ADI has led the campaign to expose the suffering and educate the public around the world, providing video evidence, prosecutions and expert reviews. 34 nations have reviewed the evidence and taken action to end traveling circus performances. Across 27 states in the US, 66 jurisdictions have already decided to either ban or restrict the use of wild animals in traveling shows, due to concerns about public safety and animal welfare.    ADI is supporting Representatives Ryan Costello (R-PA) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), who launched Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act (TEAPSPA) in Congress last November. The congressmen have concluded that ending wild animal use is the only practical approach to deal with public safety issues and inspection and oversight problems repeatedly cited by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).     #ENDS# ________________________________________________________     EDITOR'S NOTES / JOURNALIST BACKGROUND:   Contact: ADI Media Officer devonprosser@ad-international.org   Lori De Waal:      818-817-4444  e: lori.dewaal@dewaalpr.com   ADI Media Desk: 323-804-9920   e: mediadesk@ad-international.org   Images for journalists available here: http://www.4shared.com/folder/cx2gdR-w/Ringling_Brothers_Circus.html   Animal Defenders International Ending the suffering of animals in captivity and protecting wild animals and their environments ADI is active worldwide to end the suffering of captive animals in commercial use: animals used in entertainment – film, television, advertising, circuses and sport or leisure such as hunting or for products such as food or fur. Replacement of animals in scientific research; funding and promotion of non-animal advanced methods. ADI investigates, produces evidence and reports on the scientific, legal and economic issues for each case study, recommending solutions. Information is distributed to the media, public and officials. Where ADI's evidence has been a catalyst for change, we collaborate with governments to conduct large scale seizures or rescues of wild animals in captivity and relocate them to forever homes – back to their natural habitat wherever possible http://www.ad-international.org/adi_home/   BACKGROUND NOTES – worldwide movement to end use of wild animals in traveling shows The evidence that the suffering caused to wild animals by the constant travel, severe restrictions on movement and unnatural lifestyle has prompted authorities and governments around the world to end their use.   66 cities/counties in 27 states across the US have taken action to restrict wild animals from traveling circuses. And around the world, hundreds of local ordinances are in place, including over 200 in the UK, all across Europe, Latin America and elsewhere.   National restrictions on performing animals in traveling circuses, either wild or all animals, have been enacted in 34 countries – Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Malta, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Taiwan and The Netherlands. Similar laws are under discussion in the US, UK, Brazil, and Chile.   Whether it is a traveling circus, or travel from county show to county show, the confinement for the animals is the same: Traveling circuses cannot meet the physical, psychological or behavioral needs of wild animals, due to severe confinement, physical and social deprivation, long periods of time in transporters, with brutal control methods and physical violence. It is a myth that wild animals are trained with kindness and reward; the tools of the trade include stun guns and other electric prods, metal bars, whips, bullhooks (a heavy bar with a sharpened point and hook), deprivation of food and water and intimidation. Keeping stressed, large and dangerous wild animals close to the public in lightweight, temporary enclosures has proven disastrous. Workers and members of the public have been killed and maimed; lions, tigers and elephants have all escaped. It is estimated that around 12% of Asian and 2% of African elephants in North America have tuberculosis (TB), a disease transmissible from elephants to humans. Because of the traveling nature of the circus, animal welfare officers have difficulties with protecting the animals, inspections and associated time and costs. This justifies a restriction, for the protection of the animals and the public. Circuses must change with the times. Human only circuses are thriving. Cirque du Soleil now has 19 shows in 271 cities, generating an estimated $810 million a year.  Circus workers perform multiple roles; staff can be retrained, so jobs are not lost. Circus Vargas removed their animal acts and the business continues. Surveys have shown that a decline in animal circuses can be matched by a rise in circuses with human performers.

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