PETA and the Elephants

.....I WOULD NOT GO TO THE CIRCUS & I WOULD NOT TAKE ANY KIDS.....I REFUSE TO SUPPORT THEM!

I applaud and respect what PETA is trying to accomplish, but bringing their case to young children are a NO NO! Children are entitled to believe in Santa Claus.

8 years ago, some substitute teacher (PETA sympathizer/member) showed my niece a video about slaughter houses at her junior high school without asking for the parent's consent. The result is that she was so traumatized that she refuse to eat meat from that day on.

This take no prisioner approach makes PETA no better than the people that are fighting.

I admit that PETA's campaigns can be a bit traumatic. The poster below me Brian says his niece refused to eat meat from the day she saw a PETA video. The same thing happened to me 5 years ago. I saw some videos of the slaughter houses and have refused to eat meat ever since, and there's nothing wrong with that! You are never to young to learn to value life, whether it's an animal life or a human life. I refuse to support the circus and discourage everyone I know from attending as well.

Jim,

THANK YOU and PETA for bringing the circus abuse of elephants again to the forefront. I stopped going to the circus when my kids were toddlers because of the horrendous abuse of animals at the circus. Elephants do not belong tethered to stakes and whipped and bull-hooked into doing stupid, ridiculous tricks. Elephants are sensitive animals who survive in families in the wild. These circus elephants deserve to live out the rest of their lives in a sanctuary.
Jim - research it further and then you will have your answer. How can any person in this day and age think that this is the way elephants should live?
Help PETA by exposing how horrendous these poor elephants live.
Thank you.
Paula

If an animal is born in captivity, they really don't know about the "wild", and probably wouldn't survive in it. As for PETA, sometimes they can be somewhat extreme and scary. I don't believe any animals should be mistreated, but then again you will always have your meat eaters and vegetarians. Let them live in harmony.

I don't see why people get so mad at PETA for reaching out to kids. Circuses target kids with their stuff (while trying to make money). Why can't an organization do the same (while trying to save animals)?

Some people love the circus and some are afraid of clowns. I don't particularly like the circus, but I did go when I was a kid. Anyway, nothing was known about the poor treatment of animals then, or at least it wasn't talked about.

If it was anyone else, I would agree. However, this is PETA, and PETA has a history of drastic measures and over-reaction. For example, they had a whole ad campaign comparing Holocaust victims to factory chickens. I can't respect (or trust) any group with a "no holds barred" approach.

A major lawsuit against Ringling over its treatment of its elephants concluded in federal court last week. I was able to attend good portions of the trial and the testimony of the circus's own employees was devastating.

Kenneth Feld, who owns Feld Entertainment (parent company of Ringling), admitted that he has never been to a training session and that, when a trainer or handler is using a bullhook, the verbs touch, tap, bop, strike and hit are interchangeable.

Gary Jacobson, head of Ringling's breeding center in Florida, admitted under cross examination that they beat the elephants, chain them for long hours and take calves away from their mothers much too young to begin the process of "breaking" them in preparation for training.

Dr. Dennis Schmitt, the circus's main vet, admitted that many elephants carry tuberculosis but they don't know for sure which ones until a post mortem examination is carried out.

You can learn more about the trial on two websites:
http://www.eswr.com/ringling/

and

http://www.awionline.org/legal_affairs/ringling_bros/court_documents.htm

I would have a fit, to say the least, if someone shows such a video to my kids without my consent.

Children should grow up at their own pace and not have a certain point of view forced into them. They are not mature enough to determine what is right or wrong. Our judicial system can attest to that.

to Karen, I don't know how old you were 5 years ago when you watched the slaughter house video. Based on your own admission, it threw you into a loop. Now imagine the reaction on someone 9, 10 or 11 years old.

We, as parents, determine what our kids should watch, so that they can grow at a "normal" pace. We do not live in a jungle, our kids don't have to grow up in a hurry.

Sometime, I think the people that heads these organizations are self-serving, just to keep their jobs. There are more important causes out there than to harass children.

Consider this: there is ample evidence - including the testimony under oath of Ringling's CEO (described above in Amy's post) - that the elephants are regularly hit with bullhooks, and are chained for most of the day, every day. But even putting aside for a moment whether or not you consider that regular hitting and chaining to be cruelty, consider the natural state of the elephant. They are a matriarchal society, and the girl babies stay with their mothers in extended family herds for their entire lives. The boys will leave the herd at some point in adolescence and will spend their time in the company of other bull elephants and with other herds, for mating purposes, and for companionship. The vast majority of the elephants in circuses here were stolen from their families in the wild as babies; the few that were born in captivity are taken forcibly from their mothers by age 2, and trained to perform. They do not travel with their mothers.
They are browsers, constantly in motion even where the food supply is plentiful. The motion keeps them healthy; such heavy animals standing for long in one place - particularly on the hard surface of the parking lots and arena garages where they stay while on tour - causes the foot and joint diseases that are the leading causes of early death for captive elephants. Prolonged chaining, where it is impossible to move out of their own excrement, only makes the disease worse. The tricks that they are forced to perform are unnatural and in many cases physically dangerous (forcing them to stand on their hind legs, for example, puts dangerous amounts of weight on those legs and causes significant injuries, particularly over the long term).

Now, please answer me this: under what conceivable interpretation of the facts of elephant biology are the lives of these performing elephants NOT cruel?

Consider this: there is ample evidence - including the testimony under oath of Ringling's CEO (described above in Amy's post) - that the elephants are regularly hit with bullhooks, and are chained for most of the day, every day. But even putting aside for a moment whether or not you consider that regular hitting and chaining to be cruelty, consider the natural state of the elephant. They are a matriarchal society, and the girl babies stay with their mothers in extended family herds for their entire lives. The boys will leave the herd at some point in adolescence and will spend their time in the company of other bull elephants and with other herds, for mating purposes, and for companionship. The vast majority of the elephants in circuses here were stolen from their families in the wild as babies; the few that were born in captivity are taken forcibly from their mothers by age 2, and trained to perform. They do not travel with their mothers.
They are browsers, constantly in motion even where the food supply is plentiful. The motion keeps them healthy; such heavy animals standing for long in one place - particularly on the hard surface of the parking lots and arena garages where they stay while on tour - causes the foot and joint diseases that are the leading causes of early death for captive elephants. Prolonged chaining, where it is impossible to move out of their own excrement, only makes the disease worse. The tricks that they are forced to perform are unnatural and in many cases physically dangerous (forcing them to stand on their hind legs, for example, puts dangerous amounts of weight on those legs and causes significant injuries, particularly over the long term).

Now, please answer me this: under what conceivable interpretation of the facts of elephant biology are the lives of these performing elephants NOT cruel?

I was raised on a small farm and was often exposed to slaughter as were my brothers and sisters. Because of this experience I feel a lot of empathy and compassion for animals. You can shield kids too much from the real world. I am sure most of them would prefer not to see an animal perform knowing the suffering it has endured to become a clown for their entertainment.

I think the animals will miss all the kids when they don't show up.

To those of you who dislike PETA's methods in bringing animal cruelty to the notice of everyone,
remember that the people who perpetrate cruelty also have a no holds barred approach - look at the use of bullhooks on elephants. Please check out Steve O the entertainer who used to be a circus clown. Also, if you want to talk to,meet and help a lovely lady who will not make you feel ill but WILL educate you about animal welfare, check out the Hillside Animal Sanctuary in the UK, and the lady is Wendy Valentine, a sweetheart by name and by nature. Brian, I am sorry your child was shocked so young, but if she does not want to eat meat then that is her right, she can still be healthy, check out a healthy vegetarian diet. I understand all your concerns. You dont have to have things shoved down your throats, but do remember some animals literally do have this done to them, and other worse things in the name of entertainment, food and fashion. I poersonally cnanot see the pleasure in watching a magnificent elephant doing tricks. Is the animal not fascinating enough? I come from a circus background myself and have no wish to be a performer any longer - I have the choice. Animals do not. I was bareback riding as a small child and would not dream of doing this now,although I was not aware of cruelty in my immediate surroundings, I found out about some to other animals as I grew older. Thankfully no kin of mine was involved. Please dont see animal welfare groups as enemies-anyone who is really nasty is not genuine, they would never risk their cause in this way.

Sorry about the typos, should have previewed my post. I have sight problems.

I appreciate that your article but is it really that hard to see the animal abuse and cruelty here? How fair is it to children to take them to a circus to partake in this psuedo happiness knowing that these animals live a life of torture. By covering the eyes of your children you are only adding to the problem and allowing your children to be pawns of the people who are only making a profit from them. I was very young (10) when I learned about how animals get slaughtered and I decided then and there I did not want to ever bring harm to animals like this again. Children inherently know the value of life, that's why they are so shocked when learning the truth. Let them know when they are young so they don't live a life regretting being a part of a practice that tortures animals.

Your claim that Ringling Brothers wouldn't abuse elephants because elephants are too valuable to them as a business is a common but specious one that has also been employed by the circus animal exploiters themselves. For one thing, elephants are wild; you can try to break and tame them up to a point, but you can't domesticate them, and there's always the risk that they will run amok when they've had enough, no matter how many years they've been subjugated by humans. And as large animals, clearly elephants pose a huge threat to their trainers and to the public if they decide to protest their incarceration. There are plenty of cases of elephants doing just that, and ending up killing their trainers as well as members of the public.

So one method the expoiters use to control elephants is to continuously intimidate them physically and psychologically with chains, hooks, and other horrendous implements of the elephant slave trade.

PETA is spot on with its campaign to teach children that the demeaning, silly elephant tricks they see at the circus are arrived at only through lengthy, systematic, brutal torment on the part of their trainers, and that this is no way to treat a wild creature.

It would be nice to think that all the world was a wonderful place for kids, and they shouldn't know about the mistreatment of circus animals. I do think many kids like the circus and wouldn't understand how they train the animals. Elephants I thought were gentle animals, and kids like to feed them and observe them. The circus has been around for a long time, and I don't think it is going anywhere. A trained elephant really doesn't know any other kind of life. Not that this has any relevance, but look at what happened to the Siegmond and Roy act. A tiger got too agressive and almost killed Roy. I guess that could happen, if an elephant stomped on a person. I also think there are enough barriers at the circus, to prevent this from happening. From what I understand the Siegmond and Roy act had no barriers between the audience and the stage. Any of those tigers could have run off the stage and killed an innocent bystander watching the show.

PeTA KILLS ANIMALS!!! Their one and only shelter has one of the highest KILL rates in the entire country. For proof go to www.petakillsanimals.com or www.animalscam.com

you talk about abuse of animals in the circus look around you? and I mean around you. take a walk in your local park. see those joggers the bike rider the runner who are theY dragging behind them? their dog short legged long legged do you not think they are being abused? do you complain to them? and if you do you are told to mind your own business. look at that dog out of breath thirsty do you think he wants to be there?

PIX's MORNING NEWS SUCKS !
LITERALLY, is it necessary to have 2 women do something AS SIMPLE AS A TRAFFIC REPORT !
They just hired two young women in a pathetic way to draw viewers.
Also that sukanya is one of the two most ANNOYING PEOPLE ON THIS SO CALLED SHOW.
I miss when CHANNEL 11 HAD NO NEWS, and cartoons and shows in the morning.
Why is all regular television, ALL NEWS, AND REALITY CRAP.

For you PETA folks, I think it is CRUEL to show slaugher house video to children. You wouldn't show it to your own kids, that is, if you have any to begin with.

Whatever makes you ticks, but lay off our kids! No one gave you a free pass at other people's children.

For you PETA folks, I think it is CRUEL to show slaugher house video to children. You wouldn't show it to your own kids, that is, if you have any to begin with.

Whatever makes you ticks, but lay off our kids! No one gave you a free pass at other people's children.

For you PETA folks, I think it is CRUEL to show slaugher house video to children. You wouldn't show it to your own kids, that is, if you have any to begin with.

Whatever makes you ticks, but lay off our kids! No one gave you a free pass at other people's children.

Hey, Anonymous, Brtian, Brian, Britain, Brain, or whatever your name is: I think it's CRUEL for YOU to post the same exact message over and over. And PeTA is right: they should do whatever they need to do in order to get the message out. People can choose to perform as clowns -- they have a choice, they get paid, and they're treated properly. Animals, on the other hand, have no choice in the matter and are clearly being tortured. In the wild, you NEVER see elephants balancing on balls and standing on one foot, horses and tigers jumping through flaming hoops, etc. It's not natural, it's not right. It takes endless torture sessions in order to "train" them to perform such useless and idiotic acts. Close down all the stupid circuses and stop the nonsense already.

PIX's MORNING NEWS SUCKS !
LITERALLY, is it necessary to have 2 women do something AS SIMPLE AS A TRAFFIC REPORT !
They just hired two young women in a pathetic way to draw viewers.
Also that sukanya is one of the two most ANNOYING PEOPLE ON THIS SO CALLED SHOW.
I miss when CHANNEL 11 HAD NO NEWS, and cartoons and shows in the morning.
Why is all regular television, ALL NEWS, AND REALITY CRAP.

YOUR NAME SAYS IT ALL MCMAGGOT.

Why not go to the circus and enjoy yourself honeybuns.

Jim,

I suppose you would have to define was mistreated is. In the eyes of those making money at the circus, providing vet care means they are not mistreated. From my point of view, thinking about the animals in their natural environment and I have no doubt from an elephant's point of view, being kept in confinement is just horrible, now matter how well the company says they take care of them -- and I have to doubt even the quality of care involved in a money-making business which is all about keeping costs down. Most wild animals roam over a very large land area, and elephants are one of those animals.

I personally don't love PETA all that much because of their tactics, however, in seeing a documentary about Ingrid Newkirk, I have to agree that PETA's tactics WORK. They get attention. You know well how news media gravitates to the shocking.

In fact, you probably would never have written this blog post had PETA not shown up with an some outrageous incident.

I remember as a child going to the circus feeling sorry for the animals in captivity and never liking circuses after that. I'm sure I was not the only child that felt that way. So maybe the circuses should think about how keeping animals in captivity and using coercive measures will also negatively affect some children. Children are not stupid, they are usually WAY more perceptive than adults.

Keeping animals in forced captivity and small confined spaces is no more compassionate for animals than it is for humans. I hope you will reconsider bringing your children to any circus. It is a scary and very sad parade of cruelty and a denial of the suffering of these animals.