Misguided Entertainment
The highlight of our summer would be the circus. We watched the Ringling Bros. show entitled “Over the Top”. I saw how my son sat at the edge of his chair with excitement. His face lit up when the band started playing and the performers came out in their colorful and zany costumes. My daughter clapped endlessly and wiggled her butt in time with the music. It was a joy to watch them have a good time. Never mind that you almost choked when you had to pay twelve dollars for a cotton candy. Or that you skipped the popcorn because it cost six dollars. It doesn’t even matter that you tried to forget your thirst during the show because you were afraid to ask about the price of one soda. The most important thing was the look of wonder and the wide grins on my kids’ faces. A circus is something all children should experience and I’m glad that my husband and I were able to provide that for them.
When it was all over, my husband commented, “The tigers looked tired and bored while the elephants’ eyes loked sad.” I agreed. This observation made me feel guilty. I had seen the PeTA (People for ethical Treatment of Animals) website before I bought the tickets for the show. I read about the mistreatment of the animals in the care of the Ringling Bros. Circus. When I saw the video,(click here) I was repulsed by their training methods, but I went right ahead and paid for the tickets. I should not have. I suppose it’s time for all circuses to change and leave animals out of their acts.
“The idea that it is funny to see wild animals coerced into acting like clumsy humans, or thrilling to see powerful beasts reduced to cringing cowards by a whipcracking trainer is primitive and medieval. It stems from the old idea that we are superior to other species and have the right to hold dominion over them.” –Dr. Desmond Morris, anthropologist, animal behaviorist, author.
I like to believe that I am an evolved individual, but reading the above quote from the PeTA site made me realize that supporting the circus has set me back into the stone age mentality. It is wrong for the animals to suffer just so we can have our fun. I feel like a big, stupid villain.
