P.T. Barnum and Henry Bergh, the founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, had more than a few confrontations. For the most part P.T. seemed to enjoy them since they garnered more publicity for his museum.

In 1879 the ASPCA had a trainer in Barnum's circus arrested for using a method of training called the "burning method" that required a trainer to thrust a hot poker up the elephant's trunk.

In another famous episode, Bergh tried to pressure the Barnum museum from feeding boa constrictors live animals in the presence of paying customers. The pressure from Bergh became so intense that at one point the museum was forced to send the constrictors to New Jersey to be fed, outside the legal writ of the ASPCA.

As usual Barnum tried to turn the incident into a publicity campaign. He obtained a letter from the famed naturalist Lois Agassiz that said the constrictors required live food and he doubted if some of the members of the ASPCA "would object to eating lobster salad because the lobsters were boiled alive, or refuse oysters because they were cooked alive, or raw oysters because they must be swallowed alive."

In another incident Bergh objected to a show in which Salamander, the fire horse, would jump through a hoop of fire. The ASPCA with five agents and twenty policemen went to the performance to stop the act. Barnum lit the hoop and jumped through himself followed by ten clowns and then Salamander. The flames were artificial and Barnum had again outwitted Bergh.

As the years went by the two adversaries became friends. Barnum started taking Bergh's advice and strengthened the cages, limited the use of flammable straw bedding, and outfitted Madison Square Garden with every fire-proofing device of the day. Bergh defended Barnum in 1885 when he was attacked for using elephant goads in his circus. Barnum began contributing to both the New York and Connecticut anti-cruelty societies. He announced from his Bridgeport house that he was the "Bergh of Bridgeport". In his will he left $1000 to Bridgeport to build a memorial to Bergh. The memorial was unveiled on October 1, 1897. It had water troughs on two levels and a horse on top. The monument still stands at the entrance to Seaside Park on the corner of Main Street and University Avenue.