Treatment Of Circus Animals

I'm sure that everyone has been to the circus before. In front of the curtain you can see the animals do their routines and tricks. Everyone laughs and applauds when the animals leave the stage or ring, but this is the part that the animals fear. When the circus animals are not preforming they are being trained. Now I am not saying that all circuses treat their animals this way but it has been proven by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) that The Ringling Bros treat their animals this way. At Ringling Bros circus the trainers use electric prods to deal with elephants. In a video that I viewed the head trainer was telling the other trainers to 'yank that elephants' foot off with your hook'. The elephants endure harsh beatings if they do not preform up to expectations. Lions and tigers are left unfed so that when it comes to training they preform the best that they can in order to be rewarded with the food that they need. Bears are shocked with electric prods and monkeys are beaten. This is not the right way to treat any kind of animal, let alone the animals that bring laughter and happiness to thousands of people. Circus animals should be treated with the respect that they deserve.