More importantly, the circus will provide money for charity, even though at least three other all-human circuses are available, and animal circus fundraisers are discouraged by everyone from the philanthropist Kiwanis International to pain mogul Steve-O (a former Ringling Bros. performer who witnessed regular animal abuse).

The Humane Society of the United States claims circuses beat animals and deprive them of food, do not provide proper veterinary care and force animals to spend too much time in trucks and railcars that are not air-conditioned or heated.

The ill-equipped U.S. Department of Agriculture is charged with virtually overseeing the entire circus industry, and the only federal regulation governing circus animals is the 1966 Animal Welfare Act. It doesn’t even require oversight of training sessions, where much abuse occurs.

While circuses claim to comply with the Elephant Husbandry Resource Guide, it was developed by the International Elephant Foundation, partially founded by Ringling Bros. Self-regulation has never worked before, and it certainly won’t work when the ones suffering are incapable of defending themselves.

Four members of Students Promoting Animal Rights, or SPAR, and I were scheduled to meet with Breslin Center officials last week, but instead of the circus, it was our meeting that was canceled. When we finally do meet, we will present a list of both industry-wide animal welfare violations and those specific to Royal Hanneford, which include failure to provide veterinary care and failure to provide necessary documents.

Although SPAR is devoted to helping animals, the cruelty of the circus is known to most; our Facebook.com group devoted to Royal Hanneford, “Cruelty is not Entertainment,” has exploded to more than 800 MSU students in the first week.

Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, also spoke in disgust of the bullhooks and electric prods used on elephants, sponsoring the state Bill 2457 in August 2006, banning the devices: “Massachusetts cares about animal welfare and these are practices our society can no longer tolerate.” When a member of the party who tried to defend human torture calls something cruel, one of the world’s top universities shouldn’t tolerate it anymore either.

Even if you’re only worried about your own neck, that could be in danger, too. In 1992, an 8,000-pound elephant named Janet, while carrying five children and one woman on her back, threw her trainer 35 feet in the air and went on a rampage. Officer Blayne Doyle, who needed to shoot the animal 55 times in the head to kill her, subsequently studied tranquilizers and testified before Congress:

“I have discovered, much to my alarm, that once an elephant goes out of control, nothing can be done. It is not a predictable or preventable accident. The only thing that can be done — and even this is a danger to the public — is to get a battery of police officers in with heavy weapons and gun the elephant down.”

Animal acts are simply outdated. Government oversight is underfunded and inadequate, animals are only bred for performing and they are involuntary participants in their careers, period. MSU and Lansing should be on the cutting edge of condemning these barbaric acts, through canceling the event and enacting legislation to ban all exotic animal acts.

But a group of animal activists meeting with Breslin Center officials isn’t enough — administrators won’t act until students and citizens voice their concern. Take less time than it took to read this column and call Breslin Center at (517) 432-1989 to tell them they’re promoting cruelty and undermining their community’s image. For updates regarding our campaign against circuses, visit sparmsu.org. Whips and chains are for the bedroom, not the circus.

Drew Robert Winter is a State News columnist and president of Students Promoting Animal Rights at MSU. Reach him at winterdr@msu.edu.