‘Elephant Walk in DC 3’
courtesy of ‘gdudg’
If tomorrow afternoon you were to step onto a street in Penn Quarter, or down on 3rd Street in front of the Capitol, you might well see something a bit unique. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus is parading their animals through town beginning at 2pm at South Capitol St and E Street, up past the Capitol and then ending up at the Verizon Center ahead of the four day run of “Funundrum” at the Phone Booth.
It’s hard not to talk about circuses without also talking about the treatment of performing animals, and there are certainly reasons to be concerned for their welfare. Out of due diligence, I give you the Ringling Bros. Animal Treatment FAQ and PETA’s allegations concerning the circus. You can make up your own mind.
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
Gah, I hate this parade.
Even if you don’t care about the animals, this article should be enough to make you boycott circuses like this: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/08/30/circus
PETA’s allegations are all true. Two years ago there was a major federal trial against Ringling over its treatment of its elephants. Ringling owner Kenneth Feld and numerous employees of the circus admitted that they beat their elephants; chained them for most of the day and night; confined them on trains standing in their own waste for as long as 60 hours at a time; and took babies from their mothers years before they should be weaned.
You can read about the trial, including all of the transcripts, and view the exhibits at http://www.bornfreeusa.org/a1a6_ringling.php
Misty, that case was dismissed:
“Furthermore, the Court ruled that “based upon his failure to complain, the Court finds that Mr. Rider either (1) did not witness elephant mistreatment when he was employed by FEI or (2) any mistreatment he did witness did not affect him to the extent that he suffered an aesthetic or emotional injury.” “
So glad you brought up the treatment of animals when talking about this event. I can’t imagine how anyone can deny the cruelty of the circus.
In that federal trail the case was indeed dismissed in favor of Ringling Bros/Feld Entertainment, for lack of legal standing, not because they proved they don’t abuse their elephants, that evidence was quashed. But you can still read those trial testimony and evidence presented and you will have no doubts these elephants live an inhumane life to entertain the circus’s audience at a huge profit. The manager of Ringling’s CEC facility testified that they have never videotaped an elephant training session because it would be hard to explain in the modern world.
I would be all for protesting this walk but it’s probably the only chance these animals will get to step outside their inhumane living spaces until it’s time for their next beating, er, I mean “training”. And who knows, maybe the elephants actually enjoy having witnesses, er, spectators, because they know when there’s a crowd full of small humans, the whips and electrical prods are curiously absent from their usually painful and frightening routine.
This factual and educational video documentary just came out on You Tube showing the birth of the circus in the United States. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRq7_dfquds&feature=related Ringling won’t show you this at their preshow events
Torturing animals so families can have a night of fun and laughs is despicable. All visitors should be ashamed to bring their children to these events. It teaches children nothing except to ignore the hidden pain of these animals.
Baby elephants are riped and permanently seperated from their mothers at birth and chained to walls, their wills are broken and they spend a lifetime forced to do tricks in isolation. We should be beyond this cruelty but for the fact that circus-goers choose to remain in the dark and continue to keep Ringling Brothers torture act in business.
See the horrific images of Ringling Brothers cruelty at: http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/circuses.aspx
Then choose spent family night doing something more humane.
The lawsuit brought by the Animal Welfare Institute against Ringling Brothers was dismissed due to “lack of standing”. In other words, the judge declaired that it was not the correct jurisdiction for the suit but did not hear any evidence regarding the allegations of cruelty. Another fantastic source for information about elephants, this time African elephants, is The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (www.dswt.org). They are the subject of the new IMAX 3D movie which premieres in LA on the 2nd of April and in DC on the 4th at the American Museum of Natural History. The Diane Rehm Show will also broadcast a live interview with Founder Dame Dr. Daphne Sheldrick on April 5th.
I failed to mention that the name of the IMAX movie is “Born To Be Wild” and also includes the incredible work of Leakey “Angel” Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas, celebrated primatologist and founder of Orangutan Foundation International (OFI). Please take your children to see the 40 minute documentary if you have an IMAX in your area.
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus only dose cruel work for elephants. Tharindu Muthukumarana.