While news about the circus coming to Springfield might sound like innocent, family-friendly fun for some, others are getting ready to stand for a cause that they are passionate about: ending the animal cruelty that most circuses condone.

Jessica Albright, protest organizer and co-founder of the Animal Rights Club at Missouri State is one of those passionate individuals getting ready to protest the Carden Circus on Feb 7th-9th. Albright is encouraging anyone and everyone to come out to John Q Hammons Arena and be a voice for the voiceless.

“We provide posters, or people can make their own. We hand out educational coloring books free to the children, and educational literature for the adults, we have meaningful conversations with circus-goers. It’s really a peaceful and enlightening experience. We recognize that most circus-goers are unaware of that animal abuse and cruelty … or perhaps they just do not consider it. So our motivation is to encourage the circus-goers to consider boycotting the circus until Carden retires his animals so that we can all enjoy an animal-free circus. Several states have banned the use of animals in circuses like New Jersey, Hawaii, California, and very recently- Washington. We see that they still have circuses, just without the animals. Carden is already considering to adapt his show since he is seeing a decline in attendance due to people becoming more aware of the rampant cruelty caused to the animals,” said Albright.

Participating in the protest is completely free. The group will be at all five shows in front of JQH Arena. The protest lasts about an hour. Many might be hesitant about joining a protest, especially if it is their very first. There is reassurance that these protests are nothing but peaceful and only want to educate individuals on the issue at hand. The more people in attendance, the better the message is received.

“In theory, one person might think that standing outside holding a poster does not accomplish much, but after you have been to a protest and you can see the looks on circus-goers faces when you talk with them about bullhooks being used on elephants or whips being used on camels and tigers. It was surprising to me the number of people who reached out on social media after that and thanked us for sharing that insight. They said they noticed some of the things we mentioned to them, about the looks in the animals eyes, the bullhooks, the swaying of the elephants from emotional distress and the pacing of the tigers from the stress. They even mentioned warning their friends not to go to the circus until its animal-free, and saying that they will no longer attend while there are still animal acts. It is very inspiring to see people use empathy and make decisions that are in the best ethical interests of the animals,” said Albright.

The goal of these protests is to not end circuses completely, but to no longer have animals involved in them.

“I personally would love to attend a circus of trapeze walkers, rocket mans, or even hologram circuses like they are doing in parts of Europe where they banned animal acts. The goal is to educate circus-goers and send a strong message to the Carden Circus that people will not support his circus until he retires his animals. Smart business people adapt their business to the demands of their consumers. When consumers start demanding cruelty-free/animal-free entertainment, then they are going to have to adapt their show, which means future generations of animals will not have to be exploited, abused and enslaved in circuses,” said Albright.

Take action and be a part of a movement to end animal use in circuses. To learn more about the protests, including times or directions, feel free to visit the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/560489787831449/

Article written by Kate Bequette.

Photo via Pixabay.com