The Beginning of The End of Wild Animals In Circuses

        The March 5, 2015 announcement by Ringling about  phasing out  elephants in its circuses has been compared to the fall of the Berlin Wall for animal activists everywhere by Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States.  He says Ringling Brothers has fought animal welfare groups in the city councils, state legislatures, within Congress, in courts and in the press using bottomless pockets and devious practices to maintain its elephant icon.

       This new proclamation about elephants is purely an economic reality for Ringling and not so much concerned with animal welfare but we'll take it.  In 2011, the circus paid out $270, 000  in fines related to animal treatment.  Many localities now have legislation in place so that circuses with animals may no longer be allowed and legal consequences can be garnered. All this is the result of an enlightened American society is finally using its power of the purse and  recognizes the combined stress of boxcar traveling in chains and heavy handed physical abuse of elephants  in traveling circuses can no longer be tolerated.  All animals  have complex social and behavior needs.  We recognize the profound depth of animal emotion, thinking and suffering.  They feel stress and pain much in the way that we do.  They too are social beings.  There are  videos at news.nationalgeographic.com that exemplify these facts.

     Those that have  expressed a desire to retire the elephants sooner than 2018 have been met with opposition from the circus' parent company, Feld Entertainment.  They claim that their  200 acre Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation facility in Polk City, Fla needs time to build adequate accommodations  for these animals. The Feld family, in their own defense, acknowledges the intelligence of elephants and claims emphatically that those performing in their traveling circuses have shown a desire to do so.  I would like to know how they arrived at that conclusion.

     On March 11, 2015, a crowd in Richmond, Virginia protested the treatment of all wild animals by Ringling.  They demonstrated outside the Richmond Coliseum.  The time has come to acknowledge that we have finally reached the beginning of the end of animal abuse for entertainment.  We have begun to turn the tide by becoming unwilling to accept inhuman treatment of animals in labs, farms, film sets, and other venues that were considered commonplace.  Let us continue to fight for those who have no voice by protecting all animals, both wild and domestic, from the evil encroachment of human beings who exploit them for some ill gotten gain.  The most recent travesty is renewed tusk poaching in African where  adult elephants and rhinos are slaughtered for tusks that have tripled in price and their  babies are left to die. According to Fox news, park rangers are receiving military training and drones with thermal cameras are helping to protect these creatures.  Even with new laws with stiffer penalties greed is still a strong motivation for some.  Good people everywhere must be forever vigilant. 

Bottom Line:  Can we be happy with ourselves if we, knowingly, allow animals to mistreated or die because we lack the courage to protect them?