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 MFA combats circus cruelty both before the circus
comes to town and while the circus is performing.
Months before the scheduled circus performances, MFA's
Writers Group encourages venues to drop the shameful
and dangerous animal acts. In addition to writing
various businesses and groups, MFA calls fire and
health departments to make sure these agencies know
about the dangers of the circuses coming to their
areas.
Once the circuses come to town, MFA organizes demonstrations and leafletings
to educate the public and to let the circuses know
that they are not welcome. To alert the press to
demonstrations, MFA's Writers Group distributes press
releases to TV stations, newspapers, and radio.
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As part of MFA's anti-circus campaign, numerous activists have stormed the center ring of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus with banners reading "Ringling Tortures Animals." Their protests of the circus's long history of animal abuse have grabbed newspaper headlines and put the issue of animal suffering under the big top in center stage.
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Animals used in circuses live a dismal life of domination, confinement, and violent training. It is standard practice to beat, shock, and whip them to make them perform ridiculous tricks that they cannot comprehend. Furthermore, the circus deprives animals of their basic needs to exercise, roam, socialize, forage, and play. Stereotypic behaviors such as swaying back and forth, head-bobbing, pacing, bar-biting, and self-mutilation are common signs of mental distress.
Reviews of past MFA anti-circus events:
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