The Ringling Bros. animal care staff provides the very best enrichment and veterinary care for animals, including regular examinations and vaccinations. On the road, veterinary technicias travel along with the animals, while two full time veterinarians travel between each of three circus units. In addition Ringling Bros. also engages a network of more than 90 local vets who are on call while the show is in different cities. The entire animal family is provided with healthy, nourishing meals, which are shipped fresh to each city. The animals diets include hay, protein enriched grains, fruits, vegetables vitamin fortifeid pre packaged meat and a special mineral enriched granular mix. The relationship between animals and humans at Ringling Bros. is built on mutual respect, trust and affection. The training methods are based on reward and repitition, and the trainers teach animals routines that showcase their natural physical abilities and beauty, as well as their distinctive behaviors. Ringling Bros. is committed to exceeding the highest standards of care and treatment of the animals. Their animal care practices and policies are goverened and monitored by comprehensive animal welfare regulations at the federal, state and local levels. The protests listed above are unfounded and the people staging them are misinformed and living in the past. For more information about the reality of Ringling Bros. and how they treat their animals go to http://www.ringling.com/animals

They'd like you to think it's one big happy tent in their circuses. If people start to think anything else it might crimp profits.

Facts vs Ringling Fiction
http://www.circuses.com/ringling.asp
(note many of vary same quote above debunked)

Fact Sheet
http://www.circuses.com/pdfs/RinglingFactsheet.pdf
(documents numerous animal deaths and violations of humane laws)

Deceptive Advertising
http://www.circuses.com/ringling-complaint.asp

Circus Spies
http://www.peta.org/feat/rbsuit/
(so afraid of the truth coming out, they spied on animal groups)

Harrassment of Animal Activists, Using Police as Tools to Protect Profits in Fresno in July '05
http://indybay.org/archives/archive_by_id.php?id=3396&category_id=58

The information posted on the links above is 10 - 25 years old. Ancient history and Ringling has cleaned up any improprieties from it's past and lives by the words posted above.

"Anonymous" clearly lied in his/her statement about the timeliness of the reports in the above links. (Nevermind that the internet barely existed 10 years ago.)

I see intimidation of activists' free speech rights just last week in Fresno. I see reports of questionable animal deaths, reported abuse (Oakland Trib), and a USDA investigation all last year, in 2004, and in almost every year preceding it. In those links, I see the circus being called on using spies to go after "enemies" four years ago. I see the very same pro-circus talking points "anonymous" just made debunked.

Why would "anonymous" lie? To discourage people from following those links and reading the stories Ringling would rather people not know about. "Anonymous" would much rather people only go to the company's website and hear about how wonderful Ringling is to the animals. It does not serve Ringling's profit-margins to tell potential customers anything else.

While the phrase "mutual respect, trust and affection" is clearly subjective, and it is possible that "anonymous" believes the phrase fits animals dieing due to poor ventilation, breeding animals too young, forcing animal compliance to perform with bullhooks, and so forth, it is farce for "anonymous" or the company to assert that the animals feel this way about their captors.

People are catching on and animal circuses are declining in popularity as attendance drops and sponsors pull out. Feel-good corporate platitudes and lies cannot overcome the truth of the matter.

The one who is lieing is the person posting the anti circus comments. Even though the internet didn't exist 10-years ago, we still had newspapers and television reporting. Where do you think all the information on these web sites came from? What does free speech and all the other stuff mentioned have to do with animal rights. Be specific, these things aren't related to animal rights and Ringling Bros. Protesters are the ones trying to intimidate circus patrons by shoving fliers with pictures of dead animals in their face, trying to intimadate circus workers (people just trying to make living) by invading their privacy and videotaping their every move and where they live in hopes of trying to catch them doing something out of the ordinary. Imagaine having people staning in front of your workstation holding a camera and recording everything you do. Using 25 year old photos of dead elephants, not Ringling Bros.by the way, to make a point. Showing horrible doctored photos to young children who's only thought is to come to the circus and have a great time, see clowns, animals and the trapeze artists perform. The Federal, State and Local agencies investigate hundreds of incidents every year, including farm and zoo animal issues. Should we close down all farms and zoos? It is the animal rights groups who waste our taxpaper dollars by filing false complaints with authorities to get press. Don't you find it interesting the protesters always cite the investigation and never site the results of the investigation? Again, the animal rights people use old data to make their point, attendance and sponsorship has gone up not down in recent years. Numbers were down a few years ago, but all entertainment businesses go through cycles it has nothing to do with animal rights. The person above says Ringling only posts good things because it is good for business, look in the mirror and see your own postings and rantings, only negative because it is good for your cause, a cause only about a handful of peole are interested in. Give it up and try to work on something that will really benefit mankind and not waste your time and effort, you are all too smart for this!!

Having worked for Ringling Bros Circus, I can personally attest to the humane treatment of ALL the animals. The handlers and the trainers care for and love those animals. For someone to say otherwise without having witnessed the circus from the inside, is simply uninformed.

The "animal rights protesters" will continue to pursue their cause and the circus (animal & human acts) will be enjoyed by thousands of parents, children and grandparents as it has for generations. Those people who want an afternoon or evening of good wholesome family entertainment will continue to attend regardless of the information distributed by the "protesters".

I have seen parents, in my opinion, who treat their children and their pets with less love and care than the Ringling Bros circus animals receive. To me, this is a cause most worthy of change.

Oh, where to start, where to start?

A relationship “built on mutual respect, trust, and affection,” eh? You mean the way prisoners respect, trust and love their jailers and kidnappers who hold the power of life and death over them? Did these animals tell you that they preferred to be “trained” in your methods rather than live in their native habitats with their own kind, having the amount of space needed to roam and food to eat that Mother Nature intended for them? As for the animal welfare regulations, don’t make me laugh. They’re not as callous as they were 100 years ago, but they’re certainly not crafted for the benefit of the animals.

Bottom line: an animal circus is a commercial enterprise benefiting from the enslavement of other creatures. No amount of attentive veterinary care or vitamin-infused food excuses the basic immorality of such a business.

I don't think that anyone going to the circus is going with bad intentions - I used to go to the circus when I was youner because I loved animals. As I grew older and educated myself on the treatment of the animals in the circus, my views drastically changed. It doesn't take a genious to realize that captivity is inherently cruel - when you take an extremely conspecifically social wild animal that is meant to live in Africa or Asia, raoming up to 25 miles a day with lifetime family members and steal them from any sort of natural life, rip them from their families, dress them up in ridiculous costumes under bright lights and loud music and force them through physical and mental abuse to do completely unnatural tricks in the circus ring - it's not right. Who gave us the right to do this? Our dominating, Cartesian "we rule the world and everything on it" ego. Who profit's from it? Ringling - who spends thousands of dollars settling their USDA violations out of court so that the public doesn't hear about them. Ringling has recieved over 100 USDA violations since 1998, some of which include physical abuse, mental trauma, lack of excersize, lack of space, lack of veterinary care, failure to provide proper care in transit, failure to provide water, etc. There have been several documented accounts of abuse including video footage of the training process in the elephant barn with trainers saying "sink that hook in 'em", "if you hear them scream then you know you've got their attention", "Don't come in the barn if you're affraid to hurt them", "Make 'em scream!" Sound like affection training? I think not. There have been former Ringling employees, such as Tom Rider, who have left the circus after several years or working with them and are now speaking out in sworn testimony about the abuses that they witnessed. Tome Rider is quoted, "After five years of working with elephants in the circus I can tell you that they live in confinement and are beaten all the time wen they don't perform properly."
By buying a ticket to the circus you are not only saying that it's ok to do this to animals, but you are contributing to it by paying them to do it. Please, anybody considering going to the circus, think about the animals imprisoned inside - it's a modern day slave trade and those trapped inside can not speak for themselves - it is up to us. There are many other circuses that do not have animal acts, and every year more and more people are choosing compassion over cruelty by boycotting anima acts. Please join.

Whether this particular circus has "cleaned up" its acts or not, what justifies confining animals that once roamed and interacted freely?

Don't you people have anything better to do with your time? I suppose you don't think we should have dogs as pets either, they were once wild animals that became domesticated. I teach my dog tricks! Is it okay to have animals in Zoos? Those animals were ripped from their habitat more than the elephants in the circus. More and more of the elephants are born in captivity and do not know what it is like to live in the wild. You develop into your environment and animals do the same. How come you do not complain about teh Zebras or the horses and the other animals in the circus, why elephants? I don't know who Tom Rider is but my guess he hasn't worked for the circus for 10 or 20 years and he was probably fired and is a disgruntled ex employee who will say things for fame or noteriety. It just seems to me there are so many other causes in this world that you could really effect change and make a difference that are much more worthy of your time and efforts. More and more people are coming to see Ringling Brothers than ever before, so what you are doing is not effective. The elephants don't really need you, they don't acknowledge you, they have advocates through the government inspections. Focus your energy on something that really will make a difference.

you sure sound like someone who has a vested interest in the circus. didn't you make almost the exact same comment a month ago?

a little undercover PR perhaps? someone else is trying to get fame when they talk about the circus and you're just an honest broker untainted info? no vested interest?

it's a farce to suggest that the elephants and other animals are satisfied in conditions like these...
http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/08/1762127.php

Hey listen Anyonymous on Aug 31st, what so great that you do with your time? Do you have a cause? I think everyone should have a cause in the world. It would make this world a better place. If my passion is defending indefensive animals, who have no say in being exploited, abused and toted around for entertainment purposes to line the pockets of uncompassionate people, I think I'm using my time and effort in a positive way in this life. And comparing pet dogs doing tricks for a treat, is like comparing apples to oranges. Do you teach your dog to do tricks with electric prods, whips and bull hooks? No, I also don't think it acceptable to have animals in zoos either. Their life span is a 1/3 what it would be in the wild. Educationaly, it only teaches children that it's ok to take animals out of their natural environment, confine them in small enclosures, to live lonely lives, so little children can see them once a year and point at them and have their cotton candy and go home to their family and freinds and their natural enviornment. The root of the problem is poaching, hunting, forest destruction and people continually encroaching in their habitats. Zoos aren't the solution. We as humans are developing into our environment without being abused, used and confined by animals. Put the shoe on the other foot. Have you ever considered that Tom Rider has Compassion, something too many people in this world don't have? You think every ex-employee of a job is disgruntled?. He's seen things in his career with Ringling and is simply doing his duty, by informing the public of the truth. There are SO MANY other causes in the world. Do you believe one person can tackle, the homeless, aids, poverty, war, crime, air pollution, water pollution, car safety, graffiti, gangs oh and what else attacking someone elses cause. Each person has a cause, a passion, something near and dear to their hearts that they can use to make this world a better place. Also, tickets sales to Ringling have been declining steadily for years now. So someone must be an employee of, family or friend here trying to escalate the denial, (Good Cause). You think the elephants should trust the Government, I don't even trust the Government, anyone with half a brain shouldn't trust the Government. So evidently, if I visit the Circus, will I be making a difference, perhaps lining the pockets of the people who make this a better, (crueler), world? Good Look with your outlook on life buddy.