Beaten and hit with hooks,cruel fate of our circus elephants

2009-08-19

Daily Express, UK

Shocking images of circus elephants being beaten sparked fresh calls yesterday for a ban on wild animals in the Big Top.

An undercover video shot by Animal Defenders International shows three elephants crying out after being hit on the head with a big metal hook, a broom and a pitchfork.

A circus worker is also seen twisting an elephant's tail.

The animals, part of the Great British Circus, were said to be left chained up for 11 hours at a time. It is also claimed that when the circus moved five miles from Watford to Bushey the elephants were kept in a trailer for more than seven hours.

In the film, an African elephant called Sonja, born in the wild but bought after her mother was shot in a cull, shows the classic signs of mental disturbance - including rocking, swaying and head bobbing - which are often seen in animals held in captivity.

ADI, which used a hidden camera to make the film, claims it witnessed "a staggeringly high level of casual violence" in just a few days at the circus.

The pressure group's chief executive Jan Creamer said: "In the name of entertainment these elephants are beaten, jabbed with hooks, chained up for hours a day and pushed into a metal box each week where they remain for hours on end while the circus moves.

"This is an indictment of the circus industry and also the Government, who have failed to fulfil their commitment to ban the use of wild animals in travelling circuses. This investigation shows how animals like elephants suffer in the circus.

"The public wants a ban, Parliament wants a ban, animal protection groups want a ban. Surely it is time for the Government to take action to stop this suffering right now."