'I cannot even begin to imagine what life must be like for these circus animals. These animals only leave their cages, which are barely the size of their own bodies, for a few minutes each day to go into a ring and perform tricks that are unnatural to them.' - Shilpa Shetty
While most people gape and applaud when an 8,000-pound elephant stands on one leg or a tiger jumps through a ring of fire, very few pause to think how exactly these animal 'stars' perform such unnatural acts.
Despite the glittering image projected by circus advertising, performing animals' lives are very miserable. Unlike human artistes, animals do not choose to spend their time in this way. Their handlers make them do what they would never normally do through the use of fear, pain and hunger. Whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bull hooks and other tools used during circus acts are reminders that these animals are being forced to perform. When animals are not performing, they are confined to cages barely larger than their own bodies. When they become ill, they rarely receive proper veterinary care.
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