Animals do not naturally ride bicycles, stand on their heads or jump through rings of fire, so circus handlers use whips, electric shock prods and other tools of torture to train them. Circus animals work based on fear, knowing they will be hurt badly if they do not obey.
Tigers do not jump through rings of fire in the wild - they are afraid of fire and avoid it desperately. Bears may have their noses broken during training or their paws burned to force them to stand and walk on their hind legs, and their toes are beaten in training if they do not "dance". Even the animals' access to basic necessities such as clean water, sufficient food and vital veterinary care is often ignored or severely limited.
Using bears, monkeys, tigers, panthers and lions in circuses is not only cruel, it is also in violation of a 1998 Central Government notification, which was upheld in May 2001 by the Supreme Court.
The notification specifically bans circus owners from training or exhibiting the five named species, yet circuses throughout India continue to display these animals in direct contravention of the law.
"The use of animals in entertainment has already been restricted or banned in Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Denmark, and in England, circuses with animal acts are often denied public space", says PETA India Chief Functionary Anuradha Sawhney.
"Several local governments in the US have also banned exotic-animal acts, and if these places can move towards animal-free circuses, why can't India?"
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