Letter: Circuses not just fun and games

Editor:

Another fly-by-night circus (with elephants) came through town? Why do our fairgrounds and (some) civic groups insist on bringing possible disease and danger into our midst and around our little children?

An outbreak of a human strain of tuberculosis (TB), called mycobacterium tuberculosis, is infecting and killing captive elephants in the United States. The number of elephants harboring TB is unknown. Several elephant handlers have tested positive for the disease.

In people, TB can be detected through a skin test, sputum culture and chest X-ray. The disease is far more difficult to identify in elephants.

Elephants are too large to be X-rayed, skin tests are notoriously inaccurate, and trunk wash cultures only indicate whether the elephant has active TB. No test can determine if an elephant is harboring a TB infection. Circuses may also intentionally mislabel trunk wash specimens from infected animals, using a TB-negative animal as a donor.

Among the first elephants to die were Hattie and Joyce. Both elephants gave rides to countless children and were forced to perform in the circus until the day they died. The elephants belonged to an elephant “rental” company called Hawthorn Corporation, owned by Illinois millionaire John Cuneo. Hawthorn’s entire herd of 18 elephants was later quarantined for TB treatment. Tuberculosis remains one of the deadliest diseases in the world. TB is airborne and spreads through tiny droplets in the air.

Elephants are wild animals, and their use in a public forum poses a significant danger. It is well known that the stress of a life of routine beatings and chains, elephants go “crazy,” then they rampage, and when they do, they are nearly impossible to stop. “Weapons” have to be used to kill these animals when they finally go berserk. Elephant rampages have brought death’s and injuries to handlers and members of the public.

The danger that these animals pose to the public has been aired on media programs such as “20/20,” “NBC Nightly News,” “CBS This Morning,” Court TV, “The Montel Williams Show,” “Hard Copy,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “Inside Edition,” “Extra,” “The Leeza Show” — that, along with a wealth of informational over the Internet; so why do (some) civic groups and fairgrounds choose not to “educate” themselves?

A complete list of elephant rampages and tuberculosis risk, as well as video footage showing elephants who are being beaten by trainers, can be found at circuses.com.

Who could have said it better than civil rights activist Dick Gregory, an author and comedian? “Circus animals are caged and shackled and forced to work when the boss says so. They never have even a taste of freedom, but go from cage to circus ring to cage. They travel thousands of miles during the performing season, which means long hours in boxcars, or tractor-trailers, with no room to stretch, let alone run! Refuse to go to any circus that uses animals. When I look at animals held captive by circuses, I think of slavery. Animals in circuses represent the domination and oppression we have fought against for so long. They wear the same chains and shackles.”

Please? Visit only animal free circuses.

Shirley Riley

Dix

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