George Bernard Shaw

Contents

Welcome to Circus Watch WA.

This site is dedicated to aiding the ongoing awareness of the public as to why and how animals in circuses suffer. We believe that by increasing the awareness of the plight of the animals used, it will help lead to the end of their use.

Animal cruelty and abuse is everyone’s concern and the more educated we become the less we will allow the mistreatment of animals to continue. There are proven links between violence to animals and violence to humans and that issue is something we will venture into further on a page of it’s own.(click here)

Abuses may take many forms and animals can display the affects of physical and psychological abuses quite differently. Although most of us can recognise some physical abuses to an animal, for example starvation or the results of beatings, it is often a great deal harder to understand and see the psychological abuse. So we have sought the advice, opinions and knowledge of those that have vast experience in this field to you in an effort to debunk the myth that animals used in circuses is acceptable.

For your convenience, we have compiled a list of links to other websites of groups dealing with animal rights and welfare here in Australia and around the world, views and quotes from famous people, a list of incidents, what you can do to help the animals captive in circus slavery, and facts and figures from the experts.

Finally please feel free to contact us here at Circus Watch WA by way of the email on the ‘Contact’ page. We value your responses and ideas, or make a comment in the guestbook. If you wish to report an error on a page or a problem with the website, please send an email to us

Everyone can make a difference, everyone can make a change in the world to help stop the suffering and improve the lives of animals. Will you?

Statement by Pamela Anderson:

King Kong is my hero. He's big, muscular, sensitive, a terrific actor-and he's not real.
The use of computer-generated imagery has really taken off in Hollywood. So why has Madison Avenue suddenly gone bananas for apes?

Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, with at least 95% of the same DNA. closer to them than are to gorillas, so when I see chimpanzees being used as on-screen comedians, dressed up in silly costumes to sell credit cards, I think, Is this any way to treat a relative? This issue has been on my mind a lot lately. It started when my kids went on a field trip to what was billed as an exotic animal refuge in Malibu. I excitedly tagged along only to find that it was like a shabby petting zoo that rents lions, tigers and a fascinating pair of chimpanzees to productions like "The Gong Show" to perform pathetic tricks under lights in front of loud crowds-conditions that are very stressful. chose to have that kind of life; these animals didn't.

In the wild, baby chimpanzees and their mothers are inseparable, and moms carry babies with them as they forage, and sleep in the same nests with them at night. Chimpanzees start climbing and eating on their own when they're three years old, but never stray far from mom. They're not independent until seven, so it broke my heart to learn that the chimpanzees used in ads and shows are babies, snatched from their mothers when they're infants so they'll be manageable in front of the camera. While it's possible to train animals using only kindness, as Jane Goodall pointed out, [T]"this requires the kind of time and patience which is usually lacking in the fast moving world of 'show biz.'"

A primatologist who spent 14 months working undercover for a facility that trains great apes for film and TV saw trainers kick and punch the animals to make them obedient. Bright, energetic chimpanzees were reduced to frightened zombies who cowered in fear of being struck again. These same chimpanzees were later seen at an "animal sanctuary,"
which compassionate people were charged $200 to visit. Most abuse by "animal trainers" goes on behind closed doors, where the PR teams who dream up ad campaigns featuring costumed chimpanzees-and the consumers buying their products-never even see it.

That's just the beginning. By the time chimpanzees are seven, they're stronger than Vin Diesel and can pull your head off. When they can no longer be disciplined, they're abandoned like trash. Zoos don't want them and the few sanctuaries for abused apes can't possibly takethem all. So they're sold to tawdry attractions, or breeders who churn out even more chimpanzee babies for "entertainment." A performing chimpanzee's life consists of about seven years of being lugged around sets and then 40 years of being caged, often in solitary confinement.

I've vowed never to be involved with a production that uses live apes because I don't want to be a part of this cruelty, and I bet you don't either. Let's drop the curtain on ape "actors" by sticking to animatronic animals or willing human performers for our ads. It's not like there's a shortage of struggling starlets willing to embarrass themselves if it means getting on TV.

Ms. Anderson, an actress, is honorary chair of PETA.