Elephant Shows was banned in Los Angeles
Elephant Shows was banned in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES - The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus train brings all four tons of Asian elephants in this city since 1919. But "The Greatest Show on Earth" would have made his last stop here.
Los Angeles is ready to ban elephants to perform in circuses within its city limits, under pressure from animal welfare advocates who for decades condemned the methods used to train and elephants to transport as abuse and cruelty.
If the Council approves ban early next year, Ringling Brothers, the oldest continuously operated circus in the country, will be excluded from the second largest city in the country, unless the owners agree with one of the signature of the show actions leave.
"The treatment of elephants in traveling circuses is one of the more brutal practices, and it's time for us to stand up for them," says Paul Koretz, the council member who sponsored the ban. He predicted that if Los Angeles banned circus elephants, other communities follow. "At one time or another will be universally banned across the country," he said.
The movement towards elephant acts, which until recently little progress in this country can ban has now found a foothold in Southern California, a region that has emerged as a hub for the welfare of all kinds. (It is illegal for owners to declaw their cats in this city, while in neighboring West Hollywood, the city government even went so far as to officially consider pets "pets" and their owners "guardians.")
Six Southern California cities already prohibit circus elephants, more than in any other state in accordance with animal welfare organizations. In addition, in the past year, Santa Ana Zoo and the Orange County Fair both stopped elephant rides.
Educators say that people can communicate with elephants makes them more likely to support conservation efforts.
"Seeing animals up close is one of the main reasons why people come to Ringling Brothers," said Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, Ringling Brothers, who bought in 1967. "Animal Rights organizations like nothing human-animal interaction, period, regardless of how the animals are cared for."
Elephants were trained to work with people for thousands of years before they became fixtures in circuses and carnivals roaming (just ask Hannibal). Intelligent and usually docile, they can learn tricks as the main responsible for the wide-eyed children.
Some organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, animals would not only remove from the circus, but also zoos, although these animals are not made to travel in Boxcars or perform tricks.
"For the circus, is profit always priority," says Lindsay RajT, a spokesman for PETA. "Every time that animals used for profit, you will cut down on welfare to see, because it is not the highest priority."
Even people who are not actively involved in animal rights has become more receptive to this argument.
Rebecca Goldstein, a Los Angeles resident, said it would be unfortunate if she could not have children of her own to see a circus with live animals, when she went when she was young.
Despite the continued popularity of elephant acts, although some elephant trainers are afraid that their work can quickly banned.
Kari Johnson, a co-owner of Have Trunk Will Travel, a company that trains and rents elephants for shows, including Hollywood films, said at the end of Elephant rides in Orange County had hurt her business. A ban in Los Angeles can be disastrous.
"I think that if something drastic does not happen, then we are the last generation that trains its elephants," said Ms. Johnson, whose stepfather was an elephant trainer. "People love elephants because they have about them a bit."
LOS ANGELES - The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus train brings all four tons of Asian elephants in this city since 1919. But "The Greatest Show on Earth" would have made his last stop here.
Los Angeles is ready to ban elephants to perform in circuses within its city limits, under pressure from animal welfare advocates who for decades condemned the methods used to train and elephants to transport as abuse and cruelty.
If the Council approves ban early next year, Ringling Brothers, the oldest continuously operated circus in the country, will be excluded from the second largest city in the country, unless the owners agree with one of the signature of the show actions leave.
"The treatment of elephants in traveling circuses is one of the more brutal practices, and it's time for us to stand up for them," says Paul Koretz, the council member who sponsored the ban. He predicted that if Los Angeles banned circus elephants, other communities follow. "At one time or another will be universally banned across the country," he said.
The movement towards elephant acts, which until recently little progress in this country can ban has now found a foothold in Southern California, a region that has emerged as a hub for the welfare of all kinds. (It is illegal for owners to declaw their cats in this city, while in neighboring West Hollywood, the city government even went so far as to officially consider pets "pets" and their owners "guardians.")
Six Southern California cities already prohibit circus elephants, more than in any other state in accordance with animal welfare organizations. In addition, in the past year, Santa Ana Zoo and the Orange County Fair both stopped elephant rides.
Educators say that people can communicate with elephants makes them more likely to support conservation efforts.
"Seeing animals up close is one of the main reasons why people come to Ringling Brothers," said Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, Ringling Brothers, who bought in 1967. "Animal Rights organizations like nothing human-animal interaction, period, regardless of how the animals are cared for."
Elephants were trained to work with people for thousands of years before they became fixtures in circuses and carnivals roaming (just ask Hannibal). Intelligent and usually docile, they can learn tricks as the main responsible for the wide-eyed children.
Some organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, animals would not only remove from the circus, but also zoos, although these animals are not made to travel in Boxcars or perform tricks.
"For the circus, is profit always priority," says Lindsay RajT, a spokesman for PETA. "Every time that animals used for profit, you will cut down on welfare to see, because it is not the highest priority."
Even people who are not actively involved in animal rights has become more receptive to this argument.
Rebecca Goldstein, a Los Angeles resident, said it would be unfortunate if she could not have children of her own to see a circus with live animals, when she went when she was young.
Despite the continued popularity of elephant acts, although some elephant trainers are afraid that their work can quickly banned.
Kari Johnson, a co-owner of Have Trunk Will Travel, a company that trains and rents elephants for shows, including Hollywood films, said at the end of Elephant rides in Orange County had hurt her business. A ban in Los Angeles can be disastrous.
"I think that if something drastic does not happen, then we are the last generation that trains its elephants," said Ms. Johnson, whose stepfather was an elephant trainer. "People love elephants because they have about them a bit."
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