Animals are trained with kindness surely?
All training takes place behind closed doors. You don’t see it, and neither do organisations such as ourselves or the RSPCA. What we really see when a circus invites us in to watch a training session, is a rehearsal. This is merely a practice for acts already learned. We have talked to ex-circus workers who have told us that animals are beaten. The film Circus Madness, made in 1993 by Animals Defenders and IAWA, shows a llama being beaten at a British circus. This photograph shows some of the “Tools of the Trade” – spikes and goads concealed in tassels for use in front of audiences.
