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The fascination of using animals for entertainment shrouded beneath circus tents and behind clowns jumping into barrels in rodeos continues to attract people from infancy to adulthood. The behind-the-scenes lives of these animals are in dire contrast to the image these events promote. Animals affiliated with circuses, rodeos, and other areas such as greyhound and horse racing live under a guise of human pleasure that is marginalized by fierce promotions that whitewash the realities of animal cruelty for the sake of entertainment and profits.
The cruelty these animals withstand, if indeed they do survive them, leaves us hoping for a peaceful retirement, but this is not the case for the majority. In the afterlife of rodeos, as Dr. C.G. Haber, a veterinarian who spent 30 years as a federal meat inspector, worked in slaughterhouses and saw many animals discarded from rodeos and sold for slaughter says, "the rodeo circuit is just a detour on the road to the slaughterhouse." This is also true for racehorses who, when declared too lame to race, are now packed onto a truck, often with broken legs and no pain killers so trainers can save money, and taken to slaughterhouses where they pay a higher price for live animals.
After circus animals are forced into retirement, when they've outlived their term of "good showmanship", they are either put into permanent cages or sold to other circuses, zoos, private farms, and game farms. The abuse then continues at these places, where the animals are shot for recreation, slaughtered for "exotic" meat, or used in laboratory tests. An organization for placing former greyhound racers with loving families has been started, the National Greyhound Adoption Network (1-800-4-HOUNDS), however, the number of adopted hounds cannot keep up with the number that are euthanized for lack of potential on the racetrack. It is crucial that lobbying for bans on all of these industries be conducted. It is important to research what animal rights laws are in effect in your area so any violation can be reported. Also, contact PETA for information on lobbying, and for pamphlets to distribute at any of these events in your area.
 PETA's Circuses.com
The AWA requires that animal exhibitors be licensed with the USDA's Animal and Plant Heath Inspection Service (APHIS), however, there are only about 85 APHIS inspectors to cover the nearly 8,000 facilities nationwide.
Former animal trainer Pat Derby said, "after 25 years of observing and documenting circuses, I know there are no kind animal trainers."
Every year, approximately 35,000 bulls are tormented and killed in bullfights in Spain alone.
According to a 1993 University of Minnesota study, 840 horses were fatally injured on U.S. tracks in 1992, and 3,566 horses—or one horse in every 22 races—were so severely injured that they could not finish the race.
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