The Ugliest Show on Earth

An ADI Undercover Investigation of the Use of Animals in Circuses
The “Ugliest Show on Earth” report (USoE) and video chart the findings of an 18-month study and investigation into the use of animals in circuses - the most comprehensive study of animals in circuses ever undertaken.

Between 1996 and 1998, ADI undercover Field Officers worked in 13 UK animal circuses and winter quarters, and 5 foreign circuses which were exhibiting animals supplied by UK circus animal suppliers and trainers.

Materials and Methods:
The study involved collection of data by means of observing working practices, attitudes of staff, animal management routines, travelling arrangements and accommodation, training, circus animal supply, animal accommodation and health. Information and data was recorded on videotape, photographs, sound recordings, and contemporaneous notes. The second method was research - a survey of animal circuses, paper research, and interviews and data collection throughout local authorities in the UK on registers of animal trainers, registration of winter quarters (the permanent quarters used when animals are not travelling), as well as research on circus animal supplies, imports and exports, and relevant legislation.

The team of five people involved in the undercover work made observations totalling 7,280 hours. Over 700 hours of videotape was recorded, with nearly 400 hours of this being used in evidence for the prosecutions which followed the publication of the report and release of the video programme of the same name.

The 140-page report of the study was entitled “The Ugliest Show on Earth” in order to put into sharp focus the contradiction between the circus industry’s reference to the circus show as “the greatest show on earth” and the reality of the abuse and suffering of the animals used to enthrall an unwitting public.

The “Ugliest Show on Earth” video is 30 minutes long and available from ADI. The video highlights the main findings of the study and is probably most famous for the shocking scenes of brutality to elephants and chimpanzees at Mary Chipperfield Promotions in Hampshire, UK. These scenes allowed ADI to issue summonses for cruelty to animals which were subsequently taken over by the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service, and convictions for cruelty were secured against Mary Chipperfield Cawley, her husband Roger Cawley, and their elephant keeper, Michael “Steve” Gills.

Click here for ADI CIRCUS INVESTIGATION: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Full report: “The Ugliest Show on Earth” - the use of animals in circuses’: (click on the pdf file to view the chapters)

Animal circuses: Evidence of suffering and abuse

Animal circuses: Opinions

Animal circuses: Circuses and the UK Animal Welfare Bill

Animal circus: Video evidence of violence towards animals

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