A Response to Animals in Circuses and Zoos, Chiron's World?, A 1990 Report by Marthe Kiley-Worthington (2006)

The circus industry and other performing animal proponents often refer to a 1988 Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)-funded report to back up their claims that animals do well in circuses and that they are not abused.

In actual fact, while the RSPCA did fund a study, they refused to publish the subsequent report because they felt the data collected by Dr. Marthe Kiley-Worthington, the animal behaviourist commissioned to do the study, did not support her conclusions. In fact, they felt her data clearly supported their position that performing animals in circuses suffer considerably.

Dr. Kiley-Worthington went on to publish her study under the title ANIMALS in CIRCUSES and ZOOS – Chiron’s World?

The RSPCA’s opposition to the use of animals in circus acts was reinforced by Dr. Kiley-Worthington’s report, which showed that:

• Circus animals demonstrate stereotypic and abnormal behaviour patterns indicative of prolonged stress and suffering
• Circus animals were kept in close confinement most of the time
• Animals in circuses do not benefit any educational, conservational or scientific cause1

According to the report, all species of circus animals examined showed stereotypic and other abnormal behaviour patterns, indicative of prolonged stress or suffering. In the case of elephants, Dr. Kiley-Worthington found that these abnormal behaviours occupied up to 25% of the animals’ time; for the bears, just one abnormal behaviour was observed – prolonged or undirected pacing – which occupied 30% of their time, a figure Dr. Kiley-Worthington described as “very high” 2.

The accommodation for the animals, according to the report, was clearly shown to be grossly inadequate, providing extremely cramped space and a highly impoverished environment. Dr. Kiley-Worthington’s data showed that big cats were confined to their transport wagons over 90% of the time, where they had between 0.17 and 0.45 cubic metres of space per animal which the RSPCA considers a frighteningly small figure. Elephants were shown to be leg-shackled fore and hind on boards for over 60% of time, where Dr. Kiley-Worthington said, “they are able to lie down with difficulty”3.

In addition, the report by Dr. Kiley-Worthington noted that “70% of animals are not in peak condition,” at their winter quarters and they were “often confined in buildings, which may not be of high quality, for the entire time.”4

While Dr. Kiley-Worthington expressed the view that circuses offer conservation, education and scientific benefits, according to the RSPCA, there was no data in the report to support that view. The RSPCA has gone on record stating that they know of no reputable conservation body, either in the United Kingdom or internationally, who would support Dr. Kiley-Worthington’s view concerning the role of circuses in the conservation of species. Nor were they aware of any qualified organizations supporting Dr. Kiley-Worthington’s views concerning education or scientific investigation taking place at animal circuses.5

One of the problems the RSPCA had with the report was that Dr. Kiley-Worthington, who was not permitted to travel with the animals during transport, claimed she found “little behavioural evidence of distress” in the animals after their journeys. Dr. Kiley-Worthington however, presented no data to support this.6

According to the RSPCA Council's chair, Mr. Anelay Hart, it was "a great shame" that Dr. Kiley-Worthington's misleading impressions about the nature of the Society's opposition to animals in circuses had been precipitated by an ill-advised and incomplete publication of sections of the report. "Dr. Kiley-Worthington's own opinion about the use of animals in circuses is neither here nor there," said Mr. Hart. "The fact is that the scientific information in the report upholds the RSPCA's opposition totally."7

On November 29, 1989, the RSPCA Council reaffirmed its policy of opposition to the use of wild animals in circuses on the grounds of animal suffering. The Council also resolved to take steps to investigate ways in which, for the short term, the suffering of circus animals can be alleviated.8

It has now been well established through various sources (video footage, animal cruelty convictions and sworn testimonies by former circus employees) that abuse does occur in animal circuses. Nevertheless, groups like the Shriners, who hire animal circuses for their fundraisers, have stated time and again that this is not the case.

“Our circus animals exhibit none of the behaviour or appearance that could be expected if they were victims of abusive treatment. If a circus were using abusive methods it would be exposed and not allowed to stay in business.”9

Such groups rely on Dr. Kiley-Worthington's statements as evidence that circus animals are treated appropriately:

"Dr. Marthe Kiley-Worthington, a noted animal behaviourist…supports well-run circuses. Her findings concluded that 90% of animals on tour were in good physical and mental condition.10

As already noted above, this is not actually what Dr. Kiley-Worthington found. And incidents of abuse to circus animals occur on a regular basis around the world. To give just one example, in Chicago on April 13, 2001, an elephant trainer was observed verbally abusing and hitting an elephant at the Medinah Shrine Circus in front of a group of school children. The students “watched in horror as [the trainer] swung a stick with all his force and struck the elephant in the back of the leg.”11

A woman who witnessed the incident wrote, “This must have hurt because the elephant let out a scream that could be heard throughout the UIC Pavilion.”12 The trainer was later charged with cruelty to animals, but the circus continues to operate. It would be difficult for Dr. Kiley-Worthington or anyone else to argue that animals treated this way are in good physical and mental health.

Dr. Kiley-Worthington also downplayed the issue of abuse to circus animals. Regarding the use of whips on animals, she said “there was no evidence that whips were used, either in or out of the ring, wilfully or excessively” in her investigations. She argued there is “likely to be more thoughtless and unnecessary whip usage at markets, on farms and in domestic animal training establishments.”13

Yet in her book ANIMALS in CIRCUSES and ZOOS – Chiron’s World?, Dr. Kiley-Worthington described whip usage in a typical circus elephant training session:

“The animals were also scolded by word of mouth when they did the wrong thing, and if this did not have the required response, it was backed up with a repositioning of the whip, or the animal might even be touched with the whip.”14

It is worth noting that Dr. Kiley-Worthington was an animal trainer herself,15 so her comments about the training methods and welfare of animals in circuses may be somewhat biased.

In conclusion, the RSPCA’s position on the use of animals in circuses, reinforced by the scientific data from gathered by Dr. Kiley-Worthington, is that circus animals suffer from stress and close and prolonged confinement. According to the RSPCA, there is also no educational, scientific or conservation benefit to keeping performing animals in circuses.