Hanging of the Elephant in Erwin, Tennessee

Hanging of the Elephant in Erwin, Tennessee



Circus animal abuse is something that has always occurred. Not only does it happen to this day among circuses, but it also happened during the 1900’s. Here, we will take a closer look at one of the most well known cases of animal abuse, in which an animal was put to death for a human’s mistake.



During the year of 1916, the Sparks Brothers Circus came to the town of Saint Paul, which is located in Virginia. With them came Mary the elephant, who was thirty years old and weighed five tons. The circus owner, Charlie Sparks, needed a full-time caretaker for Mary. Of course, during this point in time, it was not necessary to have any type of training or experience with animals in o View the rest of this article