Lawrence Should Ban Circuses and Carnivals Believe me when I tell you I am no member of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.) I don't believe animals should have constitutional "rights" as many in the animal "rights" movement advocate. You will never see me throwing paint on women wearing mink coats. I will never protest against developing land where the spotted owl lives. And, it will be a cold day in hell before I become a vegetarian. The reason? Well, mostly because the far left goes too far and is too extreme in their zealous passion for animals. In short, they put animals before people. But, City Councilor Mike Sweeney has touched on something that has literally kept me up nights, the treatment of animals that are used in traveling circuses and carnivals. I have seen first hand the suffering and horror these poor creatures endure for the entertainment purposes of the public. Councilor Mike Sweeney is right, it
must be stopped! Here is why I believe the Council should
support such a measure. After wandering around for a while my date wanted to see the Elephants and other animal performers so we made our way to the animal tent. We arrived only to find that we had missed the last show for the evening. But, my date had her heart set on
seeing the elephants and always eager to impress, I asked
one of the Lowell police officers I knew to let us go
back to where the animals were feeding. To this day I wish he had said "no."
Other animals were in less comfort. A giraffe with chains on all four legs gave him a range of movement less than inches on each side. In cages next to him were other animals frantically scratching and biting to get out, as a carnival worker carelessly sprayed them with a powerful fire hose to wash them down. Without detailing any more of the horror we witnessed, I will say that we left the carnival with a very different view of animal entertainment. It was a sight that kept me awake many nights afterward. A few years later, the circus came to the Lawrence Veterans Memorial Stadium. As part of my job working with mentally retarded adults I was ordered to chaperone my clients to "enjoy" a night at the circus. When the "entertainment" was over we walked around the tent to see, not even hidden from view, a circus worker caning an elephant that would not return to his inch tight trailer. The more the elephant refused, the angrier the worker became and as such, the more violently he whipped this poor animal. I lodged a complaint with someone who worked at the circus only to be told that "these animals are use to it." How could that be? How could any living creature be "use to" beatings, torture and severe physical confinement? Animals may not have constitutional "rights" and I agree that God put them here for man to eat and clothe himself. I have no problem with horses or lamas spending a day in a parade or pony rides during the local festivals. Most of those animals are local and well cared for. But, the animals unfortunate enough to be part of entertainment carnivals or circuses spend the bulk of their lives in hot, smelly trailers with chains around their ankles and fecal matter piling up at their feet. And, as is the case with the dog track industry, when an animal is no longer physically capable of performing, they are "put down," a nice way of saying they are killed. The absolute least we can do as a community is to refuse to support such traveling horror shows and ban them within city limits. Having said that, Councilor Michael Sweeney should limit his proposal to traveling circuses and carnivals. One day local events, such as pony rides during Hispanic Week, or the appearance of the Mount Vernon lamas in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade should not be prohibited. Those creatures are usually well cared for and locally bread. For once, our local government has a chance to do something good. I only hope that they do so without the usual rancor of local politics interfering. |
Paying Attention Index |
Far away
from public viewing the elephants were confined in
trailers with only inches to move on each side and no
room to walk forward or back. Piles of feces at their
feet, the elephants rocked back and forth as their trunks
probed outside the trailer window for food. I was
shocked.