the LEAST show on earth

Yesterday’s Noon news covered the story of the annual ‘Elephant Walk’. The Ringling Bros. Circus is in town and they parade the elephants from Queens (an outer borough of NYC) through the Midtown Tunnel and into Manhattan. The elephants, along with many other animals, then spend weeks in trailers near Madison Square Garden while the circus does show after show after show.



I got the photo above from the NY Daily News – you can read the story HERE. One parade spectator called the sight “magical”. Really? OK. Let’s put a ridiculous hat on your head, take you thousands of miles away from your natural home and parade you through dark streets and a suffocating tunnel. And if you don’t move fast enough or if you get frightened we’ll smack you with a hook. How’s that for “magical”.

When I was a child one of the few things my father insisted on doing with us was going to the circus. We would arrive early so that we could visit the “Sideshow” better known as the “Freak Show”. Believe it or not this practice of exploiting and degrading people was not stopped until the 1970s. I always begged to wait outside. I hated the place. I felt sorry for the fat lady – sitting on a tiny chair with her rolls and rolls of fat spilling out of a tiny costume. People stared and mocked while she smiled. The tallest man, the tiniest man, the bearded lady – they all made me sad and the people watching made me sick. It doesn’t surprise me that my father enjoyed this. He loved looking down on people and he had a cruel streak a mile long. Luckily I saw this and took the opposite route – so many children follow their parent’s lead.

My son was 7 when he asked to go to the circus. The commercials were on TV and many of his friends were going. I wasn’t especially aware of animal rights at that time and the sideshow was gone so we went. The best part of the show was buying one of those lights on a string. The ones that cost a fortune and die as soon as you get home, the ones the kids all swing around in the air conking themselves on the head. When the elephants came out my son turned to me and said they made him feel “funny and sad” and he didn’t like the circus. Man he was some kind of a wonderful kid!!

Year after year there are investigations. Year after year former Ringling employees speak out and still this miserable show continues.

CIRCUSES.COM has video of how the elephants are “trained”. Warning – it is not easy to watch. There is an entire section devoted to ‘Ringling vs. Reality’ – Reality wins. Shut Ringling down.

The Wildlife Advocacy Project is also working on stopping the mistreatment of the elephants. You can visit them HERE

If you want your children to see animals up close then find an animal sanctuary that allows visitors. In NJ there is a wonderful place called ‘Popcorn Park’ – if you go HERE and then click their link on the left sidebar you can learn all about them. The AMERICAN SANCTUARY ASSOCIATION lists accredited sanctuaries – find one near you and check them out. They also have global partners. There are some (not many) zoos that are accredited. Research the zoo you visit and find out whether your patronage is helping or hurting animals.

There are also lots of other things to do – museums, planetariums, trapeze acts not associated with a circus, or how about just going to the park. In this economy how wonderful to save some money and put Ringling out of business at the same time.

“Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar” ~ Bradley Miller