Hurray, the circus is in town. Not so for the people that work in office buildings adjacent to the parking lot where the animals are warehoused during their stay in our city. We had a bird’s eye view of the Ringling animals last fall and we didn’t enjoy what we saw – the tiger pacing in his small cage as though he were going mad; the zebra in a cage that wasn’t tall enough for him to fully extend his neck; the magnificent elephants who were chained to their trailers so tightly that they could not even move their feet.
There is no doubt that the children who are taken to a circus have no awareness of the pain and suffering the animals endure at the hands of their trainers. Children have such a big heart and so much empathy for animals, I’m sure they would not want a creature harmed for their entertainment pleasure.
If you already have tickets to the show, enjoy, but consider turning this into a lesson that the animals pay a great price to entertain us, and make it your last. Through awareness of the plight of these animals, perhaps we will someday see a circus that is animal free. That would be a good day.
Sandra Paul
South Portland
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