The Cruelest Show on Earth

[marmar]

from Mother Jones:


The Cruelest Show on Earth
Bullhooks. Whippings. Electric shocks. Three-day train rides without breaks. Our yearlong investigation rips the big top off how Ringling Bros. treats its elephants.

—By Deborah Nelson


It was a drizzly winter day, and inside the Jacksonville Coliseum, Kenny, a three-year-old Asian elephant, was supposed to perform his usual adorable tricks in The Greatest Show on Earth: identifying the first letter of the alphabet by kicking a beach ball marked with an "A," twirling in a tight circle, perching daintily atop a tub, and, at the end of his act, waving farewell to the audience with a handkerchief grasped in his trunk.

But Kenny was clearly sick. Elephants are highly intelligent creatures that develop at a similar rate as humans. In the wild, Kenny would still be at his mother's side, just beginning to wean. In captivity, he was a voracious consumer of water and hay but for the past day or so had showed little interest in either. He seemed listless. Worried attendants in the tent where the elephants were chained between shows twice alerted a circus veterinary technician.

Under federal regulations, sick elephants must get prompt medical care and a veterinarian's okay before performing. Neither occurred, and at showtime Kenny trotted out to the center ring. He developed diarrhea during the morning show. During the afternoon performance, he began bleeding from his bottom and afterward struggled to stay on his feet. It was only then that Gary D. West, a circus veterinarian, arrived from St. Petersburg to examine the young elephant. West prescribed antibiotics and recommended that Kenny skip the evening show—in a later affidavit, he didn't stress concern for the elephant's health but rather that "he might pass some blood which might be seen by a spectator and cause speculation as to his well being."

West was overruled by Gunther Gebel-Williams, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's legendary golden-haired animal tamer who'd retired from the ring to be vice president of animal care. So Kenny made his third appearance, although he was too weak to perform any stunts. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://motherjones.com/environment/2011/10/ringling-bros-elephant-abuse

[justiceischeap]

1. The most reviled PETA has been saying this for years.

I used to work there as a web designer and did several elephant marches when Ringling came to town. The "trainers" sure do like to give the ele's a good whap with their bullhooks.

[RebelOne]

2. Yeah, and everyone here hates PETA,

even though they are right on as far as animal cruelty.

[a simple pattern]

3. :(

Every parent needs to know this. These people need to be boycotted right out of business.