The show was eventually cancelled due to public pressure, but shockingly these acts are still legal – despite a recent poll showing that nearly 80% of the public don’t believe they should be.
PETA campaigner Meg Matthews, 41, tells Closer:
"It's extremely depressing that it's 2015 and we still have to discuss the merits of getting wild animals out of circuses.
"You don't have to be a brain surgeon to understand that animals such as lions, tigers and elephants are not ours to abuse for human amusement.
"Or that it's simply unacceptable for these astonishing creatures to be deprived of everything that's natural and important to them and confined to cages that are too small to allow them to take more than a step or two, just so that spectators can watch them perform ridiculous tricks."
**To read more of this story, pick up Closer magazine, out today **