Clyde: Ringling Bros. Latest Victim

Watching the crowd file into Selland Arena in downtown Fresno, Ca. it is difficult not to think that these are the faces Clyde the Lion was supposed to see if it wasn’t for the fateful journey to Fresno and the abuse at the hands of Ringling Bros. that may have lead to his death.

PETA announced recently that a whistleblower contacted them to let them know that the Clyde died from heatstroke and dehydration. Reportedly, he went without water in a poorly ventilated boxcar for a three-day travel through the scorching desert heat of at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit on their way to Fresno. Clydes body was discovered shortly before stopping in Fresno and was taken away via U-haul. The suffering this lion must have felt as he lay in confinement, slowly dying is hard to imagine.

This isn’t an isolated incident for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which has a long history of USDA violations and has had reels of undercover video of their acts of animal abuse filmed. In fact, during just a two-year period, Ringling Bros. was cited 65 times by the USDA for violations of the minimal standards set by the Animal Welfare Act. According to PETA, this incident is eerily similar to a tragedy in July 2000 when two Ringling Bros. tigers were injured trying to free themselves from the overheated boxcar they were trapped in.

PETA is calling on the USDA to open an investigation and is calling for an independent necropsy to be performed. Circus animals are routinely kept chained and locked up to 50 weeks a year to “eat, drink, sleep, defecate, urinate – and even die – in the same place,” according to PETA, and let out only when it is time for a performance.

This is a sharp contrast to the normal life of lions who usually have a roaming area of 75 to 2,000 square miles compared to a circus cage of about 4 feet by 5 feet. Indeed, it a terrible irony that these majestic animals are forced into such tormented lives for what is called ‘the greatest show on earth,’ as opposed to the truly amazing show that takes place when these animals are left in the wild.

Fresno Voices for Animals hopes that Clyde has found the peace in death that he was never allowed in life, and that his death may serve as an example of why animal circuses must end.