Dick Gregory on the Circus-Slavery Connection

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Activists: Save this information to use in your letters against the circus.

 

Source: DogmaDay

 

This post contains (1) the text of ADAPTT's highly-informative anti-circus flyer

which explains why the circus IS nothing more than an animal- slavery enterprise

(2) a copy of civil rights activist Dick Gregory's condemnation of the circus

(3) some sound bytes for the media and (4) a brief comment about why activsts

should NEVER mention violations of the Animal Welfare Act when condemning

circuses.

 

If you are protesting animal-oriented circuses in your area and would like to

make copies of our flyer, please let me know. I'd be happy to send one out.

 

ADAPTT doesn't believe in creating more flyers when other groups have

informative literature. However, in my five years of activism, I have never

seen a perfect dictum discussing the problems with animal circuses which is

why ADAPTT decided to fill that void.

 

ADAPTT's fact sheet about circuses is entitled The Circus is an Animal-Slavery

Enterprise. Two photos appear on the flyer. One shows several elephants

being paraded around a parking lot in Pontiac, Mich., by Carson & Barnes.

The other shows ADAPTT's “The Circus Sucks“ billboard which was erected in

Sept. of '99 on I-75 in Detroit. The billboard photo shows an elephant in

chains, and a lion and a tiger in cages.

 

Here's the text:

 

The issue of an animal-oriented circus being abusive is a moot point. In his

book The Circus Kings, Henry North Ringling, a founder of The Ringling Bros.,

stated, “It is not usually a pretty sight to see the big cats' trained. When

the trainer starts off, the animals are all chained to their pedestals, and

ropes are put around their necks to choke them down and make them obey. All

sorts of other brutalities are used to force the animals to respect the

trainer and learn their tricks. The animals work from fear.“

 

It is impossible to use positive reinforcement with purely wild animals like

elephants, lions, bears and tigers. Violence is only way to make wild animals

perform unnatural tricks. Training sessions are comprised of beatings in order

to establish superiority. Blackjacks, hooks, iron bars, whips and sticks are

used to beat the pride out of the animals. That's why all circus trainers carry

weapons around with them like elephant hooks, which are pick-axe-like devices

and whips for the lions, bears and tigers. In 1998, during a Shrine Circus

protest in Detroit, a police officer even pulled out his gun and threatened to

shoot ADAPTT Founder Gary Yourofsky for displaying an elephant hook to

passersby.

 

In the wilds of Africa and Asia, elephants walk 20 to 50 miles a day and take

mud and dust baths as part of their natural behavior. However, elephants in

the circus have their front left legs and back right legs chained up at all

times when they are not on stage doing idiotic tricks. Not only can they not

walk 20 to 50 miles a day, they can't even take ONE STEP! For image reasons,

some circuses have started keeping elephants behind electrical fences. But

these areas are unsuitable for two-pound toy poodles let alone 5,000 pound

elephants.

 

Lions, bears and tigers fare no better. Circuses cage them like prisoners. The

result of the constant confinement is sad. Most animals in the circus develop

neurosis and exhibit neurotic behaviors. Elephants sway from side to side.

Lions, bears and tigers pace back and forth in their cages and sometimes engage

in self-mutilation.

 

The transportation process is ridiculous as well. Animals are shipped almost

year round from city to city in semi-trucks and railway cars. The semis and

rail cars are without electricity, so every trip is in complete darkness,

without without air conditioning if it's warm and without heat if it's cold.

 

Furthermore, if being chained up, caged up, dominated, humiliated and enslaved

isn't bad enough, larger circuses that perform in cold-city arenas - like The

Ringling Bros., Hanneford and The Shriners - deny animals SUNLIGHT. These

circuses perform for 3-21 days straight and keep animals in the

storage/warehouse area of the arena.

 

Only support all human circuses like Cirque du Soleil and Cirque Ingenieux!

 

====== Here's Gregory's piece on circuses that appeared in the Marin

Independent Journal on April 28, 1998 :

 

The Circus: It's modern slavery

By Dick Gregory

 

When I worked as a civil rights activist with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.,

we sought justice through peaceful means. I was a participant in all of the

“major“ and most of the “minor“ civil rights demonstrations of the early '60s,

including the March on Washington and the Selma to Montgomery March. Under the

leadership of Dr. King, I became totally committed to non-violence, and I was

convinced that non-violence meant opposition to killing in any form.

 

I felt the commandment “Thou shalt not kill“ applied to human beings not only in

their dealings with each other - war, lynching, assassination, murder - but in

their practice of killing animals for food and sport. There are simple steps

each of us can take to eliminate the exploitation of other beings. One is to

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.

 

No matter what the circus folks tell us, there is no way to persuade an

elephant to “dance“ or a tiger to leap through hoops without some threat of

punishment or violence. Big-cat trainers carry whips; elephant handlers use

bullhooks - a sharp, hooked metal tool used to poke and jab sensitive spots.

Behind the scenes, trainers often use electric stunning prods and heavy sticks

to make their point.

 

 

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!

 

This year ('98) already, two Ringling animals have died on the road. One was

Kenny, a baby elephant forced to perform in two shows and appear in a third in

one day even though he was ill. fter the third show, he lay down and died.

Kenny was only 3 years old and would have stayed with his mother in the wild for

up to 15 years.

 

The other casualty was a tiger being used in a Ringling publicity photo shoot.

When the tiger attacked one trainer, the other trainer on the scene returned

the animal to his cage, got a gun and shot the big cat to death.

 

Both of these deaths could have been prevented, and not simply because the

situations should have been handled better by those in charge. They were

unnecessary because the animals should not have been imprisoned in the first

place. As Alice Walker writes, “The animals of the world exist for their own

reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for

whites or women for men.“

 

Animals and humans suffer and die alike. Violence causes the same pain,

the same spilling of blood, the same stench of death, the same arrogant,

cruel and brutal taking of life. We don't have to be a part of it.

 

Besides using comments from the ADAPT anti-circus flyer, here are some other

sound bytes to use for the media:

 

“The circus is an animal-slavery enterprise. It meets every definition of

slavery. Animals chained and caged -- against their will. Animals forced to

perform unnatural and tricks -- against their will. Animals shipped around from

city to city -- against their will. While someone profits off their labor and

from their misery ... that, my friends is the utmost definition of slavery.“

 

“All circuses use violence to train elephants, lions, bears and tigers. And

the training sessions are comprised of beatings with hooks, iron bars, whips

and sticks.“

 

“The following places have already banned animal circuses: Vancouver, British

Columbia; Hollywood, Florida; Tacoma Park, Maryland; Quincy, Massachusettes;

Redmond, Wasington; Corona City, California; Fairfax City, Virginia; and

Belfast, Ireland. Why haven't we? Our city should be a leader in ethics,

freedom and justice. Unfortunately, this town is just another mindless robotic

entity that follows the immoral crowd.“

 

“Fear is only way to make these wild animals submit and perform. Even Henry

North Ringling said, “It is not usually a pretty sight to see the big cats'

trained. When the trainer starts off, the animals are all chained to their

pedestals, and ropes are put around their necks to choke them down and make them

obey. All sorts of other brutalities are used to force the animals to respect

the trainer and learn their tricks. The animals work from fear.“

 

“Most circus animals develop neurotic behaviorsfrom the intense confinement.

Elephants sway from side to side ... lions and tigers pace ... and bears rock

back and forth in their tiny cages.“

============================================================================

 

Take action. Don't wait for change. Make it. Don't ask for change. Force

it. Don't beg for freedom. Demand it.

 

Gary Yourofsky

ADAPTT Founder/President www.adaptt.org dogmaday

810-405-5067

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Humans are a disease, a cancer of this planet, and we are the cure... GO VEGAN!

 

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