It probably was inevitable. I'm old enough to remember the freak shows which traveled from town to town, they were the first to go. While many people stated they were exploiting these so called freaks, those part of the show made excellent money. In a way because of an ego trip, someone else's morality, they were done away with and deprived a lot of these freaks a means to a livelihood.
PETA and the circus, it does the same thing. PETA may have good intentions, maybe not. But people and animals will be hurt because of this. The Circus had to take real good care of their animals, they were their livelihood. Failure to do so would hurt them in their pocketbooks. PETA is one of those organizations that gets my dander up. There aren't many, but PETA has always rubbed me the wrong way and this is just another rub.
Whatever, the circus was going under which caused the desperate attempt to boost sales by getting rid of the elephants. That didn't work obviously. You can even see the pitiful crowds they played to before the elephants were ditched:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_aIoSJtpdc
Getting rid of elephants probably gave them a revisionist excuse to blame their enemies, but they are no victim. They even sued animal rights groups for the apparent crime of caring about animals too much, and Feld entertainment (owners of disney on ice) could easily afford to keep one unprofitable operation going. They are *choosing* not to
You are also singling out PETA when governments across the country are putting restrictions on animal abuse. If you deny that it's abuse, consider this:
"The announcement comes after years of controversy, litigation and, more recently, legislation. In December, Oakland joined Los Angeles in banning the use of bullhooks, a tool that resembles a fire poker and is used by trainers to control elephants. The company had previously declared that the circus wouldn’t come to those cities once the bans went into effect."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...move-elephants-from-the-ringling-bros-circus/
Yeah, they couldn't use elephants without torture devices
Now finally i want to ask does this (trigger warning):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECspj0daAlE
Look like the claims to genuine concern for elephants by Feld reps like this:
"The resources that had been put toward fighting these legislative activities could be better spent caring for these animals,”
“We’re creating the greatest resource for the preservation of the Asian elephant.”
Or your assumption that they took "real good care of the animals"?
