Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

In 2011 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus agreed to pay a $270,000 fine after facing charges from the USDA, the United States Department of Agriculture. The corporation did not admit wrongdoing after settling says Reuters who wrote the report for the New York Times on this case (1). The corporation is justifying their decision to pay as purely business with their show adapting to what people want and are interested in seeing. The mistreatment that elephants face in the show is often…

had once performed in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, somehow got loose when the truck hauling 14 big cats stopped south of Atlanta on its way from Florida to Tennessee. "We stopped in Georgia to feed and water the cats and for a quick rest break for the driver, and that's where we believe the animal escaped and was later confronted by law enforcement," Payne said. Suzy was headed back to its European owner, animal handler Alexander Lacey, after the circus this year ended its…

were used to bring people's spirits up for a cheap price. The novel Water for Elephants, written by Sara Gruen follows the Benzini Brothers Circus during the 1930s and deals with the issues of prohibition and animal cruelty. Circuses where popular ways of entertainment in the 1920s-30s. According to the book Circuses written by Janet M. Davis, “The American circus represents a synthesis of various International entertainment traditions,” (Davis). Circus’s contain various acts, sometimes…