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Do You Support Ringling Bros' Decision To Remove Elephants From The Circus?

Do You Support Ringling Bros' Decision To Remove Elephants From The Circus?

  • Total voters
    61
Declan said:
So you are an absentee foster parent? You bullshark will be getting tatted up and have gauges in its gill slits if you are not careful :2razz:

Animal protection runs the spectrum. Conservationists and Granola eating hippies should be able to agree on at least a few things.
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Yep. Being a Dive Master, I don't even fish. I love all the oceans life and just take pictures... Except for Lionfish. They are invaders here from the indian Ocean and are killing our reef fish.

Some video I shot on a dive from a few years ago.

[video]https://myspace.com/jackal_ijn/video/pompano-dropoff-thomas-reef/100159791[/video]
 
I definitely don't agree with the assertion that animals performing in something like a circus is inherently abusive to them. It varies from one situation to another. If the Ringling Bros treat their animals alright then I don't see the harm. Same with zoos. However, we should take steps to ensure that the animals' health and well-being is protected.
 
Black Dog said:
Yep. Being a Dive Master, I don't even fish. I love all the oceans life and just take pictures... Except for Lionfish. They are invaders here from the indian Ocean and are killing our reef fish.

Some video I shot on a dive from a few years ago.

[video]https://myspace.com/jackal_ijn/video/pompano-dropoff-thomas-reef/100159791[/video]
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A lot of chef's in that area are promoting eating them but it is a bit of a trick to get them caught and cleaned safely and they reproduce faster than we could ever harvest them.
 
Declan said:
A lot of chef's in that area are promoting eating them but it is a bit of a trick to get them caught and cleaned safely and they reproduce faster than we could ever harvest them.
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Oh yea. But we are doing what we can.
 
First off, well ran zoos are not in anyway comparable to circuses. Zoos allow people to see animals for themselves and by doing so hopefully gain an interest in ensuring they are protected in the wild.

As to Ringling Bros decision to remove elephants from the circus, anyone that thinks this is not a good thing should read The Elephant Whisperer:

http://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Whis...699926&sr=8-1&keywords=the+elephant+whisperer
 
TurtleDude said:
I disagree. I think the elephants are treated well. I agree they are intelligent.
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In the US, they are cared for very well. But the discipline and training can be very harsh and painful. Complete dominance has to be asserted or the elephants are too dangerous...even to themselves as they get shot when they go amok.

Sadly, I know of this. My ex still works at a zoo and the elephants must be very handleable in order to take good care of them...bathing, toenails clipped, ears cleaned, dental work, etc. They are disciplined harshly at small infractions to ensure that larger ones never occur. One technique is to rope the legs, drop them. and beat sensitive feet and toes with canes and poles. Even crowbars. It's not that they are bad animals, it's that they are very smart, hierarchical animals and their size makes them very dangerous with any non-compliance.
 
It's a good first step; a good second step would be shutting down every circus that uses "performing" animals. I hate the circus. :(
 
Lursa said:
In the US, they are cared for very well. But the discipline and training can be very harsh and painful. Complete dominance has to be asserted or the elephants are too dangerous...even to themselves as they get shot when they go amok.

Sadly, I know of this. My ex still works at a zoo and the elephants must be very handleable in order to take good care of them...bathing, toenails clipped, ears cleaned, dental work, etc. They are disciplined harshly at small infractions to ensure that larger ones never occur. One technique is to rope the legs, drop them. and beat sensitive feet and toes with canes and poles. Even crowbars. It's not that they are bad animals, it's that they are very smart, hierarchical animals and their size makes them very dangerous with any non-compliance.
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That breaks my heart. :(
 
DiAnna said:
That breaks my heart. :(
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Greetings, DiAnna. :2wave:

:agree: In the video, as the elephant was being shot, I could almost hear him cry "but you don't understand!" Sad...
 
polgara said:
Greetings, DiAnna. :2wave:

:agree: In the video, as the elephant was being shot, I could almost hear him cry "but you don't understand!" Sad...
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I didn't watch the video. I couldn't... just couldn't. :(
 
polgara said:
I wish I hadn't! :no:
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I questioned posting it and opted to edit only for the link with a strong warning. I didn't know if it was just me, but something inside me triggered that this was just to great an injustice to the elephant - a lifetime of injustice. It also seems that video told the elephant's story, that it's death wasn't forgotten.

Between the training video and the elephant on the rampage, my unsure "other" to absolute opposition to elephants as performers and circus creatures. For their huge size and social manner even zoos seems cruel.
 
TurtleDude said:
WHAT he said but PETA is scum and I cannot stand them in any way shape or form. A moronic PETA scumbag was braying about the Elephants in Cincinnati. What a frigging loser
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I think you will find that many people in animal welfare -- especially people who work in/with shelters -- completely agree with you.

PETA needs to be investigated and shut down a lot more than elephants in circuses do. I am amazed they haven't been, given how shamelessly they report their unjustified killing of animals and how well-known it is that they oppose no-kill initiatives.

Elephants were legimately being severely mistreated in circuses, leading to death, disease, and injury of both humans and elephants. But for PETA to complain about this when they kill virtually all animals in their care and make it policy to work against reducing the killing of domestic animals is just incomprehensible.
 
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DiAnna said:
I didn't watch the video. I couldn't... just couldn't. :(
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Me neither. I tapped out pretty quickly. I have seen stuff like it before, and I know how this goes. Ugh...
 
Good to hear. Big cats don't belong in a traveling circus either.
 
joko104 said:
I questioned posting it and opted to edit only for the link with a strong warning. I didn't know if it was just me, but something inside me triggered that this was just to great an injustice to the elephant - a lifetime of injustice. It also seems that video told the elephant's story, that it's death wasn't forgotten.

Between the training video and the elephant on the rampage, my unsure "other" to absolute opposition to elephants as performers and circus creatures. For their huge size and social manner even zoos seems cruel.
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Greetings, joko104. :2wave:

In some ways, I'm glad you posted it! *hug* If we don't know about injustice, we cannot correct it. Most people, me included, probably didn't realize how these gentle creatures, huge as they are, are trained to amaze us when we go to the circus. You assume they are well cared for, and most probably are in the US. It's just sad that children in the future will probably never get to see them, except in movies, unless steps are taken to ensure their humane treatment, and I mean on a global scale!

I cried for hours when I saw the video recently where one of them in India had tears in his eyes when shackles that had been on him for 32 years were finally removed. 32 years of beatings and being starved and overworked while shackled - horrible treatment at human hands! Some have a lot to answer for, but I'm calling it ignorance rather than deliberate cruelty! The Prime Minister of India has promised to change things in his country, and we should do the same here. I'd hate to see a circus without elephants!
 
I am a proud member of a different PETA group known as "People Eating Tasty Animals". :chew:
 
DiAnna said:
It's a good first step; a good second step would be shutting down every circus that uses "performing" animals. I hate the circus. :(
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I agree that circuses with performing animals should be shut down but not all circuses are bad. We got some free tickets recently to a small traveling family circus : Garcia Brothers Circus and it was actually one of the best circus shows I have been to. Just a really good performance plus:

Garcia Bros. Circus comes to the Rice County Fairgrounds - Faribault MN: Local

The family owned-and-operated performance group is a circus of only human entertainers, no animals.
"We're an animal-free circus because we don't believe in animal cruelty," said Bardo Garcia, owner and director of the circus.
Instead, Garcia Bros. fills the circus ring with high quality performers.
"We have performers from all over the world," Garcia said. "There are jugglers from Argentina, an aerialist from Romania, and more."
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Very cool and I am extremely pleased by the decision to remove elephants.
 
I'm not the animals rights type and have never actually been to a circus, but the record shows that these establishments have failed to take proper care of these elephants (and numerous other animals) since their inception. It's always a mess. With that in mind, it was the right choice to phase out elephants altogether. Acrobats seem far more entertaining anyway.
 
Circuses are a hold back form the 19th century. Who wants to see these animals doing circus tricks. Makes as much sense as seeing a Killer Whale jumping through hoops in a swimming pool.

Thank you RB for finally coming into the 21st century.
 
It's their business, not mine.

I assume we would hear more about it if they were treated badly.

But I am against caging animals anyway, whether for horse racing, circus's or even zoo's. I don't lose sleep over it, I just don't think it's cool.
 
Anyone have an opinion on the growing controversy over Sea World and their orcas? Opposition to their having orca is affecting Sea World's profits. I've seen their show and it is incredible, but more for the dolphin act than the orca. The dolphin at least have SOME social life and a tiny bit of swimming space.

"In the wild, orcas swim upward of 100 miles per day. But at SeaWorld and other marine parks around the world, orcas are forced to swim in tiny circles to amuse tourists and spend the majority of their lives virtually motionless in concrete tanks that are the human equivalent of a bathtub. Their important matriarchal bonds are broken when babies are taken from their mothers and sold or transferred to other parks, and captive orcas live only a fraction of their average life span."

Read more: 'Blackfish': The Documentary That Exposes SeaWorld - SeaWorld of Hurt

8 reasons activists give against having Orca ("Killer whales") in captivity or for tourist shows:
http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/8-reasons-orcas-dont-belong-seaworld/
 
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