Imagine being in a circus ring watching tigers and lions leap through flaming rings of fire, elephants standing on their heads, and monkeys riding red bikes in front of a colossal crowd of screaming and enthusiastic fans. The elephant's exhausted and worn body is flooded with intricately designed red and orange curtains. The sweet, endearing smell of fresh cotton candy and popcorn fills the humid air with thrilling excitement. When the eccentric show has reached its grand finale and finally ended, a trainer quickly arrives with a sharp bull hook and forcefully jabs it into the elephant's scarred side. Bloody wounds are all over his body from mistreatment by the circus industry and trainers. This is the life that circus animals live every day. The animals are routinely mistreated and crammed into small wagons for more than three-quarters of their lives, serving the public as a moment of high-flying entertainment every evening. The life of a circus animal is a life of pure, endless misery. The use of animals in circus performances is inhumane because they pose a threat to public health and they are mistreated when they are out of public view. Starting the process of putting on a circus show requires a huge amount of work. First, some exotic animals must be captured and trained. The majority of circus animals are captured from the wild; the animals spent several years serving circuses, such as the Ringling Brothers Circus and the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Animals born into the circus world are held until it is necessary to replace a retiring performer (Minutes of Entertainment, 2). To train animals, shocks, pokes, prods, starves and strikes are used to "prevent acts of violence and atrocities... middle of paper ... for which people pay a moderate amount of money to attend it. The mistreatment of circus animals is cruel, breathtaking and inhumane. Works Cited “Last chance for animals – Circuses”. Last chance for animals - Circuses. Last chance for animals, nd Web. April 18, 2014. “Minutes of entertainment. A life of misery. » Born Free USANp, nd Web. March 12, 2014. Smith, RaeLeann. “Circus animals: abused and dangerous.” Encyclopedia Britannica Blog. Np, November 6, 2007. Web. March 11, 2014. .Thorburn, Mark A. and ANDREW LINZEY. “Animal Rights”. Encyclopedia.com. January 1, 2002. HighBeam Research. April 20. 2014 .