When I think of boxing kangaroos I think of enormous male red roos, fighting each other in truly awe inspiring displays of dominance.

Unfortunately, the words 'boxing kangaroo' make too many people think of the cartoonish image of a roo wearing boxing gloves. In Texas, the Rocky Show Circus has taken this image way too far, by not only making a real kangaroo wear boxing gloves, but also boxing shorts, and then forcing him into an actual boxing ring to spar with people. How demeaning to such a magnificent animal!

Long suffering 'Rocky' the roo, frightened audiences recently by knocking over a woman, crazy enough to get in the ring with him, before trying to mount her. In one news article about the incident, an expert said that Rocky was displaying 'natural' behaviour!

Hmph! If you ask me, there is absolutely nothing natural about a rambunctious roo being kept in captivity! Kangaroos are highly social animals but Rocky never even gets to lay eyes on another hopper. Roos are also shy by nature, yet Rocky is expected to box strangers in front of a crowd. Rocky could reach speeds of up to 70km/hr in the wild, but in this farcical circus, his muscular hind legs, adapted for marvellous jumping, are wasted because of his restrictive environment. It's no surprise that he's showing some frustration.

Too many animals used for human entertainment display abnormal behaviours. A beautiful elephant rocking back and forth in boredom; a massive killer whale swimming round and round in circles in his tank; a caged bird, never allowed to fly, pulling out her feathers ... You get the idea.

Rocky should be in a mob happily bounding around the open plains of Australia. Not wearing a costume in a boxing ring in Texas!

Once you get past the many spelling mistakes on their website, I'm sure you'll agree the Rocky Show Circus actually looks way more exciting when Rocky isn't even on stage! Please click here to send the organisers a message to let them know their circus would be so much better if they cut out the cruelty, and binned the boxing!