The origin of the use of animals in circuses or shows the like has its roots in ancient Greece and Egypt, back when the wars, people brought with exotic animals in motorcade, to prove how far they had gone. Gain strength in the Roman Empire, three centuries before Christ, when gladiators in arenas battles exercised brutal force and violence natural and inherent to a period in which power gave to the winners of fights and wars, and, therefore, no cultural or artistic value can be attributed to this practice.

But the modern circus, with paid performances, ring, tarpaulin and surrounded by bleachers was created in 1770, by Philip Astley who introduced in their presentations attractions with horses, acrobats and clowns. In the U.S., Circus consolidated its characteristic itinerant, travel to different cities to make presentations and also in this country was consolidated presentation that considered eccentricities - bearded ladies, Dwarfs, Giant, Siamese twins, very old people and human and animal strains.

In Brazil, no record of the existence of small circus shows from the late eighteenth century, probably brought by expelled Roma in Europe. In their presentations, these artists used taming of animals, Numbers and conjuring up puppet. Or modern circus, however, only came to the country in the nineteenth century. Encouraged by economic cycles Coffee, the rubber and cane SUGAR, European companies came to present themselves in Brazilian cities. These were companies that helped form the first families to circus here, being that the numbers dangerous as the trapeze or taming animals gained space.

The undeniable lack of naturalness to the lives of these animals with brutal change in their customs, it is not just the change of habitat (or lack of this habitat for those already born in captivity) and deprivation of liberty, but also the imposition which was made to undertake numbers and antics for the "respectable" (?) public circus, as punishment, training base of painful stimuli, fear and deprivation of food, no legislative framework, deserved attention in Brazil by the year 1934.

In that year it was released Decree n. º 24.645, still in force, establishing measures for the protection of animals, and in the midst of his Article 3 lists on non-exhaustive list which is considered mistreatment of animals, and more specifically subsection XXX defines as the mistreatment of animals performing stunts in shows, exactly what occurs in numbers that use animals in circus shows.

A Constitution Brazilian, magna law of our country, also happened to house the animal in its custody article 225, treating the environment, and specifically on its § 1º, subsection VII, brings the incumbency of the government to protect the fauna and flora, sealed in the form of law practices that endanger its ecological function, causing the extinction of species or subject animals to cruelty.

And finally, in 1998, was enacted Federal Lei n. º 9.605, Environmental Crimes Law, establishing criminal and administrative sanctions against violations of environmental, giving special emphasis to be article 32, caput of that law, which provides for imprisonment of three months to one year and a fine for that I tie a practice of abuse, maus-TRATOS, injure or mutilate wild, domestic or domesticated, native or exotic.

In addition to the federal laws cited, Many states and municipalities have paid attention to the issue, especially by increasing claim of society to end the cruelty that subsumption of nonhuman animals to human animals in circus means. Currently there are five states that prohibit presentations, as well as over fifty municipalities, there is still in progress draft laws in many cities, some states and also one of the Federal (PL 7291/06), currently being processed in the Education and Culture Committee of the Chamber of Deputies.

The federal legislature should pay attention that the contemporary circus presents a model that thrives today, known as Circus Man, because it involves only the human figure in performances, excluding the participation of animals.

Furthermore, the use of non-human animals to attempt to attract an audience is supposed outdated and bankrupt strategy marketing, bearing in mind that the longing of modern society has long been evolving, so that it no longer accept the treatment of nonhuman animals as mere objects to be, besides be noted that since it is illegal and unconstitutional activity, legislative role as aforementioned and the undoubted cruelty that such an act means.

There is also no need to talk about education, art and culture in the presentation of animals in situations totally alien to their natures, plus a whole life subjected to the cages and roaming, under all types of weather climate. Education, 's arts culture are not and never will be done through the exploitation of any form of life that is, because otherwise we would have a huge nonsense. What is the lesson to be transmitted to a child to make her see an elephant climbing on a stool? Or a lion and a tiger jumping a hoop of fire? Or a bear dancing or cycling? A cat jumping from a height of ten meters, shattering on the floor? I see no other except that the animals would be inferior beings and the human (“all-powerful”) can master it and do what you want…

So, pray that legislators have an ethical performance and not anthropocentric, and is in line with global trends global moral, and finally voting and approving the federal PL 7291/06, prohibiting the presentation and maintenance of any non-human animals in circuses and shows assimilated.

And the respectable public that bears the same title reputable and continue evolving in their ethical concepts, moral and legal, not accepting cruelty as culture and art.