Many of us have fond memories of going to the circus as a child, especially of the animals such as bears and lions that are doing all types of amazing tricks right in front of our very eyes!
What many people don’t realize, however, is that behind-the-scenes, the animals are not being treated very nicely. Although they work hard for the circus, animal-rights groups have regularly captured video of these animals being mistreated.
In many cases, those videos not only show the mistreatment of the animals but they show the animals being freed from their captivity and released into the wild again. From that point forward, the animal is able to live out their life in the way that nature had intended and they often seem very happy to do so.
According to information from Four Paws, an animal activist group, the Netherlands has banned circuses from keeping wild animals. Included among the wild animals that are no longer permitted to be housed by a circus are giraffes, tigers, elephants, lions, sea lions, zebras and monkeys.
There are currently 22 active circuses in the Netherlands and 16 of them house these types of wild animals. There has also been additional legislation that is similar in other countries, including Greece, Austria and Belgium.
In the United States, circuses are still permitted to keep wild animals for their acts. Groups such as the ASPCA and the Humane Society are trying to get laws passed that would keep those circuses from housing these animals in order to protect the animals from harm.
