A circus....animal cruelty or not?

I think there can be good and bad in curcuses like anyone else. I guess a good circus where the animals are well cared for is better then the wild. The animals are well-fed and they don't have to be concerned about predators (If they can worry) I would think that training them to do tricks is good mental stimulation, the stimulation they would get in the wild when out hunting and in everyday life.

I personally don't like the whole circus animal thing, it just doesn't seem right to have wild animals do 'tricks', but if it's between that and being hunted/poached I think i would prefer the circus. This is a touchy subject.

I hate the thought of animal acts in a circus. I have seen one but walked out before the end of the show. I was unfortunate enough to have a ringside seat and could clearly see the healing whip marks across the backs and legs of the lions. Quite disgusting. This, by the way, was not some disreputable little touring circus - it was actually the most famous and biggest circus in the UK. I'm not sure if there actually are any circuses with animal acts left in the UK - I haven't heard of any for years and I know that a lot of local authorities (including the one I live in) have banned circuses with performing animals in them. Possibly they still exist but I suspect they have a diminishing audience. Many people no longer find it acceptable "entertainment". As for the proposition that an animal is "safer" or has an easier life in a circus environment rather than in it's natural habitat I'm afraid I have a hard time swallowing that one. It's the equivalent of saying that we would all be safer if we were locked up in jail - I mean at least then we couldn't be hit by a bus could we? Which would you prefer - to be in a "safe" captive environment or free in your natural habitat with all it's risks?

I'm sure that there are some circuses that mistreat their animals, but many more that do not. The way that I see it is that as long as the animals are happy and healthy, that it should not be considered animal cruelty.

I love the circus, and always have. We are seeing less and less of them, and there are quite a few that dont have animals in them anymore. I dont think that the animals are being mistreated, they seem to be well looked after and there carers seem to care deeply for them. If these animals were put out into the wild they would die. They dont know how to look after themselves, as many have been born in the circus. Best wishes to you, foxy

I don't find anything wrong with it. Whose to say the animals aren't "happy". They don't even know emotions. What else are they good for? They are beautiful animals and lots of people would never know what they were like if they didn't tour around and perform for us. Showing just how amazing they truly are. As for being kept in cages, only being let out for brief periods of the day. Sounds like life to me. Go to work, go out for lunch, back to the "cubicle". Even when I get home, its do this, do that, pay for this, etc, etc. What's so bad about living in a cage when you don't know any different. Oh, and if those whips really bothered those lions, I'm thinking they would make a quick snack out of the tamer. I've seen them in action (MO's Wild Kingdom) and believe they can take care of themselves. Now, how about those poor clowns......

In my opinion it's not cruel. I do wish that animals can one day go back to roaming the lands that are so rightfully theirs, but that's just not going to happen. So a Circus can be a great thing as long as the animals are treated with proper care.