Children and adults alike are attracted to circuses as an opportunity to see wild animals up close. Circuses often include exotic animals such as elephants, lions, tigers and primates, which we find fascinating. And rightly so: these are truly amazing animals deserving of our awe, wonder and respect.

However, sadly, circuses do not respect wild animals and their physical or emotional needs. Circus animals are kept in cramped living conditions and live their life performing for the entertainment of their audience.  

Voiceless Policy:

Voiceless is opposed to the use of animals for entertainment. These institutions send a strong message that animals are not worthy of our respect.

Did you know?

1. Touring circuses may cover thousands of miles a year, carrying animals from site to site in transporters and cages on the backs of lorries known as beast wagons. Moving location throughout the year means they spend a lot of time in temporary accommodation.  In Australia, because of the size of the country and the range of climatic conditions, constant travelling can be gruelling for the animals.  For example, it takes three days to cross the Nullabor in a truck.[ii] Circus animals have also been injured during this process. [iii]

2. Elephants: In the wild, elephants are extremely social, living in large groups or herds and may travel over 40 kilometers in a single day. In the circus, they are unable to perform natural behaviours such as foraging, bathing, travelling and socialising. This may create stress and frustration and lead to abnormal behaviours such as rocking, swaying and nodding.[iv]  Generally, the Codes of Practice in Australia require that elephants are to be confined most of daylight hours in a compound of electric fencing with minimum dimensions of 600m2 x 10m (for one or two elephants).[v]  The Codes state that elephants can only be tethered at night, during storms, when the elephant trainer/handler is temporarily absent from the circus, and in emergency situations.[vi] In Victoria, the Code requires that elephants be confined in an enclosure with a security fence with minimum dimensions of 400m2 x 10m  for one elephant, with an additional 200m2 required for each additional elephant.[vii]

3. Big cats, most commonly lions and tigers, live in beast wagons. Cats are predators, designed to roam large distances to hunt. This natural instinct and behaviour is frustrated by the circus. Consequently, lions and tigers may repeatedly pace backwards and forwards in their beastwagon.[viii] Generally, the Codes of Practice in Australia require that as a minimum, big cats are to be displayed in beast wagons with demountable enclosures annexed to the wagons.  The Codes state that the annexes must be available to the cats for a minimum of 6 daylight hours each day.  The minimum floor space for one cat is 20m2 x 2m x 2.4m.[ix]

As the Codes of Practice have different legislative weight in each jurisdiction, there are clear problems with enforcement. 

4. Training in circuses is very secretive: animals undergo training behind closed doors.  Some former animal trainers and keepers have spoken out to The Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS) in the United Kingdom in order to expose the cruel methods used to break and train circus animals.[x]

5. The fate of retired and ‘surplus’ circus animals is difficult to trace.  In Australia, there are no laws that specifically provide for the fate of circus animals when they are no longer wanted by their owners.

Voiceless in Action:

• As part of its 2007 Grants Program Voiceless awarded $10,000 to a unique coalition between 'NSW Circus Ban' (spearheaded by Associate Professor Barry Spurr) and RSPCA Queensland to campaign for state-wide bans in NSW and Queensland on circuses which use performing animals, both exotic and domestic.  NSW Circus Ban and RSCPA Qld will work together to create a comprehensive website with up-to-date information about the animal cruelty issues relating to circuses. The website will also provide on-line petitions and model letters to politicians. For more information visit, http://www.animalcircuses.com/
  

• Through Voiceless’s 2005 Grants Program, Dr Barry Spurr was granted $5,000 towards a campaign with the principal objective to achieve a state-wide ban on circuses using animals, by first achieving local council bans throughout NSW.  In June 2006, as a result of Barry’s efforts – and those of other dedicated activists who had been working on this issue independently – Parramatta City Council passed a unanimous motion to ban performing-animal circuses.  The project continues, as Barry is currently pursuing the remaining local councils which still approve performing-animal circuses in NSW.

1. Fact Sheet: Circuses, Animals Australia, http://www.animalsaustralia.org/default2.asp?idL1=1273&idL2=1303 at 11 July 2006
   
2. Ibid.
3. See History of Circus Animal Injuries, Animal Activism Queensland, http://www.animalactivism.org/, at 11 July 2006.  See also List of incidents involving Australian Circus Animals, Animal Liberation NSW, http://www2.animal-lib.org.au/circus_list2.tpl, at 11 July 2006.
4. Animal Circuses, Animal Suffering, The Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS),  http://www.captiveanimals.org/circuses/circus.htm, at 11 July 2006.
5. Standards for Exhibiting Circus Animals in New South Wales, clause 5.3.D; South Australian Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals in Circuses, clause 5.D.2; Queensland Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals in Circuses, clause 5.D.2; NCCAW Position Statement No 26 - Recommended National Circus Standards, clause 5.D.2; Code Of Practice For The Conduct Of Circuses In Western Australia, clause 5.3.D.
6. Standards for Exhibiting Circus Animals in New South Wales, clause 19.1.D; South Australian Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals in Circuses, clause 5.D.3; Queensland Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals in Circuses, clause 5.D.1; NCCAW Position Statement No 26 - Recommended National Circus Standards, clause 5.D.1; Code Of Practice For The Conduct Of Circuses In Western Australia, clause 19.1.D.1.
7. Code of Practice for the Public Display and Exhibition of Animals, Appendix 2
8. Animal Circuses, Animal Suffering, The Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS),  http://www.captiveanimals.org/circuses/circus.htm, at 11 July 2006.
9. Standards for Exhibiting Circus Animals in New South Wales, clause 5.3.A; South Australian Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals in Circuses, clause 5.A.2; Queensland Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals in Circuses, clause 5.A.2; Victoria’s Code of Practice for the Public Display and Exhibition of Animals, Appendix 2; NCCAW Position Statement No 26 - Recommended National Circus Standards, clause 5.A.2; Code Of Practice For The Conduct Of Circuses In Western Australia, clause 5.3.A.
10. Animal Circuses, Animal Suffering, The Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS),  http://www.captiveanimals.org/circuses/circus.htm, at 11 July 2006.