How many investigations, undercover workers, and ex-circus employee testimonials does it take before people admit that circuses hurt animals? Even besides blatant physical abuse, domesticated wild animals and/or keeping them chained, locked or caged up is inherently cruel. F*** the circus. Shrine DOES use animals including wild animals. One of many examples: www.youtube.com/watch

"In 2004, Shrine Circus elephant supplier Hawthorn Corporation admitted to 19 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and paid a $200,000 fine. Hawthorn had been charged with using physical abuse, causing harm and discomfort, failing to provide veterinary care, and unsafe public contact.

In 2001, a parent chaperoning schoolchildren to the Medinah Shrine Circus in Chicago reported that children were traumatized when they saw a trainer beating an elephant. She wrote to the local newspaper, "When the elephants were brought behind the curtain, the trainer began verbally abusing and hitting the elephant. We watched in horror as he swung a stick with all his force and struck the elephant in the back of the leg. This must have hurt because the elephant let out a scream that could be heard throughout the UIC Pavilion."
www.circuses.com/feat/shrine/index.asp