Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Toad Tales

I was reminded why I was not a member of the Shrine any longer. One of my Masonic Brothers put out an ad about the Shrine Circus. I used to be a Shriner but I decided that one reason (there are others) that I no longer could belong would the way Elephants are treated. I support The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee and donate to them what I would have given to the Shrine.

The Elephant Sanctuary

Another group I am becoming aware of is the

Paws - Performing Animal Welfare Society

Since 1984, The Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) has been at the forefront of efforts to rescue and provide appropriate, humane sanctuary for animals who have been the victims of the exotic and performing animal trades. PAWS investigates reports of abused performing and exotic animals, documents cruelty and assists in investigations and prosecutions by regulatory agencies to alleviate the suffering of captive wildlife.

PAWS is another group and their web site has some information you should read...

Enjoy the Circus? The Animals Don't.

Life under the big top is not the "wholesome, fun-loving, educational experience" the circus industry would like you to think it is. For the animals, life is a monotonous and brutal routine of boredom, stress and pain. In short, traveling animal acts perpetuate animal cruelty, inhumane care, public safety hazards and distorted images of wildlife.

Circus animals are confined virtually all of their lives in barren conditions, while forced to suffer extreme physical and psychological deprivation:

Virtually 96 percent of their lives are spent in chains or cages.
11 months a year they travel over long distances in box cars with no climate control; sleeping, eating, and defecating in the same cage.
When allowed out, these animals are trained using extreme "discipline" such as whipping, hitting, poking, and shocking with electrical prods.
Even though the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets minimum standards of care, most itinerary stops are not inspected.

Wild animal acts also pose a significant threat to public health and safety:

Circus elephants may carry tuberculosis (TB), and can infect humans with the bacterial disease. Public records show that many circuses have used TB-positive elephants in public performances.
Circuses are not required by law to carry emergency euthanasia equipment and local law enforcement agencies may be forced to deal with a loose animal.
Since the 1990s circuses have been responsible for over 100 human injuries worldwide.

Conservation or profit?

Circuses such as Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus claim to actively support education and conservation of wild species. A captive life in the circus for elephants consists of shackles measuring as little as five feet in length. In the wild these elephants would have a natural territory covering up to 2,300 square miles. By spotlighting captive breeding programs in North America for animals to be used for entertainment, these circuses do nothing to raise awareness of the wild elephant's largest threat today-human encroachment into elephant territory and loss of habitat.

Sending the wrong message to our children

There was a time when a circus may have represented the only exposure a child had to a wild animal. Today our children learn early in school, and through such programs as on Animal Planet and The Discovery Channel, that wild animals live complex and fascinating lives, and have natural instincts, developed over thousands of years. When kids see the negative messages circuses send, it completely contradicts these lessons.

The circus industry claims that it only trains animals to do the types of tricks they might naturally perform in the wild. In reality, animals live their lives looking for food, sleeping, or raising their babies. Costumed bears lying on their backs spinning giant balls, tigers jumping through flames, or elephants walking on their hind legs then balancing on their heads, are not natural behaviors.

PETA has a video on how the elephants are treated. This is hard to watch.

You may have noted that Field Entertainment (Ringling Brothers) is phasing out their Elephant acts. Here is a link from Huffington Post. And here is another article that may explain their reason for the phase out.

This is the advert for the Shrine Circus....

Magnificent Elephants

Ponderous Pachyderms provide tons and tons of picturesque pyramids with a flair! Magnificent mammals monumental maneuverings in the ring! What’s a circus without elephants? With the most talented herd in the circus world today, you're surely to be entertained and wowed by these graceful wonders.

The Mighty Bo

The Star of our Show, the Mighty Bo -- the largest performing elephant on the planet! This majestic pachyderm entertains the audience with his graceful and talented moves. Bo will perform a routine from the more than 60 tricks he has learned. His favorite treat after showing off for his circus fans are red apples and sweet grain.

The Shrine does not plan to phase their shows. Their animals will continue to be chained, beaten and abused... in my estimation this is just wrong.

When you do find out about Elephants you enter a realm of beings that should be cared for and loved and you should find everything you can to understand and love them.

Elephant Emotions.

Elephants, the largest land animals on the planet, are among the most exuberantly expressive of creatures. Joy, anger, grief, compassion, love; the finest emotions reside within these hulking masses. Through years of research, scientists have found that elephants are capable of complex thought and deep feeling. In fact, the emotional attachment elephants form toward family members may rival our own. From PBS