This piece on circus animals by Marc Bekoff speaks for itself:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201111/circuses-wild-animals-do-not-belong-in-the-cruelest-show-earth
Marc is a world-reknown biologist based out of Colorado, USA, and has done extensive work on animal behavior and emotion. With Jane Goodall, he co-founded "Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals."
I also applaud the sponsors of the bill here in the USA, particularly Rep. James Moran of Virginia who said:
"Based upon publicly available research, including video and photographic evidence, it is clear that traveling circuses cannot provide the proper living conditions for exotic animals ... Keeping elephants in chains, confining lions and tigers in small cages, forcing them to perform unnatural tricks for the sole purpose of human amusement is increasingly difficult to justify the more we learn about these intelligent, social creatures."
I rememer seeing my first traveling circus when I was about 8 years old. Before the show, my mom took me and my little sister out in back of the tents to see the animals. I cried when I saw the bears and lions and tigers kept in cages barely big enough for them to lay down, and the elephants chained to stakes in the ground, unable to move. I also wasn't that impressed with the show itself, honestly, and I haven't been to a circus since. However, that experience has led me to actively support orginizations that work to give abused circus animals permanent, safe, and sane places to live.
The Wild Animal Sanctuary: http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/
The Elephant Sanctuary: http://www.elephants.com/
