On my way to work, I ordered a coffee at my favorite place, and while waiting in line I picked up the City Weekly. I noticed that the City Weekly Outdoor Recreation Guide was nicely placed inside. To my disgusted surprise, the first full page was an advertisement for The Jordan World Circus.
Not only is it not outdoor recreation, but it’s a circus that still uses wild animals for entertainment. Haven’t we learned from all the accidents that have happened with animals and trainers? Sea World? Barnum & Bailey? There are many others, if you search online. Somehow, these incidents continue to be swept under the rug as if nothing happened.
Please do your research before you attend a circus. If it’s a circus with just humans doing amazing tricks, that’s great because of one simple thing: They are choosing to join the circus and travel around the world.
The animals—bears, muzzled and trained to ride a tricycle; elephants, electrically prodded so they will balance on their front feet or on a ball; tigers, hit with a stick until they obey and sit still—don’t have a choice.
How degrading for an animal, when you think about how they are meant to be in the wild or a sanctuary. They are robbed of any shred of dignity. The worst part is that when they aren’t entertaining, they are kept in small cages or in roped-off areas. Who wouldn’t go crazy at some point and attack? This is not the life for a wild and social creature, no matter how “kind” the owners and trainers of the circus claim to be.
Let’s take a moment and think back on how far we have come: slavery, women’s rights, same-sex marriage. Animals are next. The dollar is your vote. Don’t support another animal’s lifetime of misery.
Lauren Lockey
Salt Lake City
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