what you are about to see will change
your view of Ringling Brothers and
Barnum & Bailey Circus forever
for baby elephants and their mothers
circus life is filled with heartache
beatings and even death in nature
elephants began mating at age 18 when
they're physically and emotionally ready
the more experienced mothers in the herd
comfort and support first-time mothers
during their labor and help them care
for their newborns Ringling used Shirley
for breeding when at just seven years
old she was still a child herself
Shirley did not have the benefit of her
her to look after her as she matured or
to guide her through her birthing and
rearing her infant calf Ricardo
obviously in pain Shirley is further
immobilized by a handler who digs a
sharp metal bull hook into her skin
Ricardo drops from Shirley's womb onto
the cement floor with Ringling staff
restricting her movement she can't see
what's beneath her and inadvertently
kicks her own baby instead of allowing
mother and calf to bond
Ringling pulls the newborn from her
reach
groaning surely makes several attempts
to lean toward Ricardo she desperately
wants to touch and smell her infant but
Ringling staff won't let him after the
third attempt Shirley is pushed away and
hooked on the trunk to prevent her from
inspecting her baby
Ricardo was destroyed eight months later
after he severely fractured both hind
legs when he fell from a circus pedestal
during a training exercise at just 4
years old Benjamin should have still
been with his mother instead he was on
the road performing with the circus here
are the last images of Benjamin taken
moments before he drowned
elephants are normally excellent
swimmers and loved to play in ponds but
Ringling had removed Benjamin from his
mother before she could teach him to
swim at first Benjamin was playing and
didn't want to get out of the water when
elephants disobey circus trainers
punishment is Swift and painful armed
with a bull hook the Ringling trainer
went into the water to force Benjamin to
get out terrified as he was being poked
and prodded Benjamin moved away into
dangerously deep water
Benjamin's curious and energetic
childhood was cut tragically short in
the wild female elephants remain with
their mothers their entire lives and
males for up to 15 years but not at
Ringling at just under two years of age
Ringling employs tide babies doc and
Angelica with ropes to separate them
from their mothers doc and Angelica were
understandably frightened as they were
isolated from the comfort and protection
of their mothers as they struggled the
ropes cut through the tender flesh of
their legs shown here a month later the
wounds were still visible when the
inspectors with the USDA paid Ringling a
routine visit they discovered large
painful lesions on the baby's legs and
warned Ringling that they had caused
trauma stress and physical harm this
undoubtedly left emotional scars that
will last a lifetime the painful rope
burns that Ringling inflicted on
Angelica were only the beginning of her
problems now 7 years old
Angelica is living a sad life on the
road performing with the circus this
video taken in California shows her
shackled and being beaten by a Ringling
handler trainers routinely use bull
hooks to hit elephants and embed the
pointed hook into their sensitive skin
these cruel training methods are
standard practice with every circus that
uses elephants while Angelica
is restrained the handler hits her with
a bull hook then jabs her twice then a
moment later hits her again
an elephant expert at the Auckland Zoo
describes the video as clear abuse in
what appears to be a random act of
violence
incredibly Ringling's veterinary
technician watched the same footage and
stated that she saw no evidence of abuse
a three-year-old baby elephant named
Kenny died after he was forced to
perform in three shows even though he
wasn't eating was bleeding from his
rectum and had trouble walking
Ringling paid $20,000 to settle federal
charges of failing to provide veterinary
care to a dying baby elephant
you can help stop Ringling from harming
or killing any more baby elephants
please always stay away from circuses
that use animal acts tell others what
you've seen and contact PETA if you want
to help stop cruelty to animals