“It’s fun for children. It’s not that bad,” said a woman with her several young children as they walked past our signs that read, “Cruelty is NOT entertainment”, “Ban Circus Animals”, and “There’s NO excuse for animal abuse.”

That got my blood boiling.

Last Sunday, I went to my very first protest: it was against Ringling Brothers ... the saddest and cruelest show on earth. For those who don’t know, their tagline is “The Greatest Show on Earth.” This is coming from a circus that punches its animals in the face, whips them and beats them with electric prods to get them to perform unnatural tricks. They also confine animals to tiny cages as they travel across the country for up to 100 hours straight (conditions so grueling that a 2-year old lion named Clyde died from intense heat after being transported through the Mojave desert). Kids can barely stand to be on the road for a few hours; now imagine what it’s like for a wild animal.