Lions, tigers, and bears belong in the forest, not in circuses.

Circus animals endure some of the harshest treatment of all captive animals. They are taken from the wild, forced to live in horrendous conditions, and poked and prodded until they learn “tricks” for our amusement. But more and more people and their governments are deciding they want nothing to do with the cruel practice, and have passed laws banning circuses that use wild and exotic animals.

I want California to join the long list of governments supporting animal rights. Join me in asking California to ban circuses that use wild and exotic animals.  

The terrible treatment of circus animals doesn’t stop once they have been trained. In fact it only gets worse - from there, they are shipped from city to city, in the freezing cold or under the scalding summer sun. They are paraded in front of screaming crowds causing stress and anxiety in the animals. And once they are too old to perform, they are usually discarded.

What might be fun for us to see is a nightmare for an animal to experience.

Animals like elephants have it particularly bad. They don’t enjoy performing in front of crowds, so the only way to force them to do so is by using a sharp metal poker known as a bullhook. California is currently trying to ban the bullhook, but I think it can do better - it can ban circuses with wild and exotic animals altogether.

This year, San Francisco became one of the largest cities to outlaw the use of wild animals in circuses. They followed in the footsteps of 49 American cities and countries across the globe, like Austria, Singapore, Israel, Mexico  and Bolivia, whose leaders  decided  they don’t want to be involved in cruelty for the sake of entertainment. I think California should come to the same conclusion.

Join me and speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves. Ask California to ban the cruel use of wild and exotic animals in circuses.