The saddest show on earth (why the circus sucks)

[sandra1023]

The first three paragraphs were written by Kathy Guillermo and can be found at: http://www.peta.org/feat-circusmom.asp.

Like every mother‚ I want to raise children to be strong‚ confident‚ and compassionate. I want my kids to understand that the choices that we make may affect others in profound ways and that we must be especially careful not to harm—or support others who harm—those who are defenseless. Just as we would never hit or yell at our dog‚ Jenny‚ we would never support cruelty by going to the circus.
When other mothers ask me about this‚ I tell them the following:

Circuses chain‚ cage‚ and hurt animals. Even if the audience doesn’t see it‚ we know that elephants are shackled for their entire lives‚ beaten by handlers who want to establish dominance‚ and separated from their families. Animals in circuses can’t make even one decision about their own lives. They live and travel in caged squalor.
Children identify with animals. Like animals in the circus‚ children are completely at the mercy of stronger beings. If they see animals who are being humiliated and forced to perform unnatural acts‚ they get the message loud and clear that it is acceptable to bully weaker beings.
What children really want is time with their families. Having fun with their parents and siblings is what matters—and there are so many great activities that are both fun and humane. Toddlers love shows such as Dora Live and those put on by The Wiggles‚ while my school-age kids want to go to science and art museums and attend baseball games. Even a simple game night at home can be a wonderful‚ warm experience.

There are better ways to learn about animals than going to the circus. Volunteer at a wildlife rescue center‚ or check out a great documentary about animals in their own homes. Visit Elephants.com and see—via live video feed—elephants who now live in a spacious sanctuary after being rescued from circuses and zoos.



Video credit:  http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/?c=rbec09.



Visit RinglingBeatsAnimals.com



The following is credited to Alisa Mullins and can be found at: http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/07/477_years_of_su.php.

477 Years of Suffering

That's the grand total of years that the 18 elephants used and abused by two of Ringling's touring units have been forced to endure beatings, chaining, and standing in cramped, sweltering boxcars. If you break that down, Ringling has tormented just these elephants—they have dozens more—for a total of 5,724 months, 24,804 weeks, or 174,105 days.

To put this in perspective, Baby, Sarah, and Banana (three of the elephants who are traveling with Ringling) were forced to perform for the first time in 1968—the year that Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. We've come a long way since then—or have we?

Ringling talks a big game about "elephant conservation," but the reality is that Ringling has actually removed more elephants from the wild than it has bred. Most of the elephants you see pirouetting and standing on their heads in Ringling performances at one point in their lives roamed vast jungles. You might call it Ringling's other dirty secret (besides that little issue of beating the @#$% out of elephants when they think nobody's looking).

Ringling's elephants are also dying faster than they are breeding: At least 26 elephants, including four babies, have died since 1992. Eight were under the age of 40 (which is just about half an elephant's natural life expectancy of 70 years). Oh, and those babies Ringling does manage to breed are only used to replenish its stocks as other elephants die—they will never be released into the wild—ever.
Pretty depressing, isn't it? Ringling must be using some kind of new math to make all that add up to "conservation."



Please sign the petition to stop circus cruelty:
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2063

[OmsYankeeMama]

Aug. 23, 2009 at 4:41 AM

ugh...I never did liek the circus...it always felt dirty to me...even as a kid