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The way in which circus elephants are trained, maintained, and transported are all indicative of a life of misery in the circus.
A “bullhook,” or “ankus,” is a 2-3 foot long club or stick with a sharp metal hook attached at the top. It is used repeatedly to beat, hit, and poke the animals, especially when they are young, to “train” and “break” them, and to make sure that they perform as required. Although elephants are thought to have strong hides, in reality their skin is extremely sensitive, particularly behind the ears, on the trunk, and on the head — places where they are most often struck with the bullhook. The elephants’ skin is so sensitive that the animals often throw dust or mud on their backs to protect their skin from sunburn. Once the animals have been hit repeatedly throughout their lives, just showing them the bullhook will often instill enough fear to get them to act as demanded.
Heavy metal chains are used to confine circus elephants and keep them under control. Elephants in circuses are almost always chained by one front leg and the alternate back leg. If you look at the ankles of a circus elephant carefully you can often see lines from where the chains have tightly clasped the animal’s leg.
When the elephants’ chains are all hooked to another chain that is anchored by two pickets, the elephants are “on the picket line.” Chaining in this manner limits the elephants’ ability to engage in normal behaviors, interact with other elephants, and lie down. More often than not the elephants are chained on hard surfaces like cement instead of the soil their feet and joints are designed for. As a result, elephants subjected to such chaining suffer painful foot problems, arthritis, and other painful physical ailments.
The constant chaining also causes these highly intelligent and social animals severe psychological distress, which is displayed by the elephants’ constant swaying back and forth in repetitive motion, called “stereotypic behavior.”
The Red and Blue Units of the Ringling Brothers Circus typically each perform in over 40 cites and towns each year. The Circus transports the elephants from city to city on a train, with the elephants packed in side by side, chained by the same front and back leg, and unable to lay down for many consecutive hours. Accounts from Ringling Brothers employees who recently left the circus describe the elephants chained in boxcars for over eight hours without stopping for water.
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