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Elephants in Washington

Category: Amazing facts | Date: Mar 24 2008 | By: admin

It is my last day in Washington DC and time to update you all. Here it all is in pictures.

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Directors and friends met for two days and discussed WildlifeDirect progress at Stony Brook University in Long Island at the Turkana Basin Institute. We worked throughout lunch to get the business finished.
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Easter Monday is not a holiday in DC though you’d never know from the festival atmosphere. This dog was decorated for Easter and brought out with the hundreds of spectators to see the elephants paraded through the streets.

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Ten elephants and tens of horses, cars and circus performers paraded down the streets of the capital. The police were out in force, keeping the public from getting too close, and especially those pesky PETA people and others who are protesting the use of elephants in circuses.

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The elephants dutifuly walked in single file, stopped when instructed, rolled their trunks on demand and the crowd got their photo opportunities on a lovely sunny but chilly day. I found this quote here and wish that everyone could read it

“The idea that it is funny to see wild animals coerced into acting like clumsy humans, or thrilling to see powerful beasts reduced to cringing cowards by a whipcracking trainer is primitive and medieval. It stems from the old idea that we are superior to other species and have the right to hold dominion over them.”

—Dr. Desmond Morris, anthropologist, animal behaviorist, author

Seeing elephants in Washington DC is so amazing, they look so calm, so graceful, …. one could easily forget the suffering that these animals have endured in their training. These particular elephants belong to the the famous, or should I say infamous Ringling Brothers. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute — have taken the Ringling Brothers to court arguing that circus life is inherently cruel to the elephants. The case has been going since 2000 and the result, if in favour of elephants will be a watershed for them.

As I watched in awe with the others on the street, little red packages were thrown at me by clowns and scantily clad circus girls ….. they were clowns noses. On the red nose was written ‘Ringling bro’s the greatest show in the world’ . I wondered what the elephants thought about their lives in chains entertaining people across America. Its more like the ‘greatest shame in the world”

The day ended as every day should, relaxed and in lovely company. I met up with some of our most avid readers on the gorilla blog and discovered to my great pleasure that their friendship was started on WildlifeDirect. Now I know even more about the power of community building on the internet. Thank you Lisa, Sheryl and Christine for a lovely evening.

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9 Responses to “Elephants in Washington”

Pam/Shell Beach, CA, on 25 Mar 2008

Sad to see elephants as slaves. I was also sad to see the car company Subaru using a chimp in it’s latest tent event car commercial. Especially when they promote themselves as a “green” company that cares about the environment. That kind of media gives the impression that it’s OK for chimps to be hanging out with humans in the city. But we all know they should be in the wild. And since I own a Subaru, I wrote an email to the company. I would encourage others to do the same. Education is key as well as using our consumer dollars wisely.

sheryl, washington dc, on 25 Mar 2008

Hey Pam, I saw the Suburu ad too. I think we should start writing to every company we see that uses animals in their adverts. I know a lot of people mistrust PETA, and for good reasons, but they’re right about a few things:
Animals Are Not Ours to Eat
Animals Are Not Ours to Wear
Animals Are Not Ours to Experiment On
Animals Are Not Ours to Use for Entertainment
Animals Are Not Ours to Abuse in Any Way

s.

Lisa, California, on 25 Mar 2008

Very sad to see the elephants like this. It seems to me, I have seen more ads lately using chimps especially. So nice to see that you were all able to meet up and have a nice evening together. Lisa

Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 25 Mar 2008

Early in February, I showed up in Tampa, where the Cruelist Show on Earth was performing. I was supposed to be joined by other members of Peta, but no one else showed up. It was a very cold, blustery night, in the low 30’s. I stood alone,(no sign to hold, someone else was to bring them). I stood there and glared at everyone I could make eye contact with. My tears stung my face as I weeped for these poor elephants…

Judy in CA, on 25 Mar 2008

so sad, so awful, so ridiculous to hear about this show in dc… can’t understand us citizens not getting the cruelty by circus trainers. The LA Times (!) recently used chimpanzees in their TV commercials with no regard for the awful cruelty that goes into producing these tv spots… one of the largest news organizations in the world, not getting it! education and awareness of behind the scenes cruelty is still a challenge because caring humans would not allow this to continue - if they only knew!
Judy in CA

sheryl, washington dc, on 25 Mar 2008

Ringling Bros. is owned by Feld Entertainment: http://www.feldentertainment.com/
Feld also owns Disney On Ice, Disney’s High School Musical On Ice; Doodlebops On Ice, and Disney Live. Boycott any and all of these events and donate to the organizations bringing suit against Ringling for elephant abuse. Here’s more information about the law suit: http://www.awionline.org/pubs/quarterly/03-52-4/524p5.htm and http://www.awionline.org/news/2007/ringling_bros_082907.htm
From what I remember reading, the suit started with 50 or so elephants and now it’s down to a handful, due to Feld’s legal wrangling. Say what you will about PETA, and I’ve said my share of disparaging comments, but they have the best undercover evidence of abuse against elephants and other endangered animals in Ringling’s circus. Tell your friends and family not to attend any of Feld’s shows!

s.

F. J. Pechir, on 25 Mar 2008

Thank you Paula for your comments. Its a shame that a country like this, allow this infame kind of “shows” with elephants. But what to say about all kind of abuses and cruelty acts against animals, wild and domestic, that occur just in the U.S. everyday? Returning to elephants, this very same species, the asiatic, is being used in the Pench National Park in India to research and filming wild tigers with remote-controlled cams, helping in the preservation of this endangered big cat. Now, talking about tigers, I also would like to see (like Theresa) a blog in Wildlife Direct about tigers, specially sumatran tigers, one of my favourites. Only a few months ago, it was believed that their numbers in the wild was steady around 400, but the last survey indicated that only less than 200 still exist in Sumatra! I worked with an adult couple of this tigers in captivity in an animal enrichment program, they were just spectacular, beautiful and breathtaking animals! Unfortunately, the male was involved in a big man-created problem with a young indian tiger, resulting in the death of this last one. For other part, canada is about to start the killing of more than 250,000 young seals, South Africa continue with the insane idea of a possible elephant slaughter, Alaska has already authorized the aereal killing of wolves in some regions of the state and the same is now proposed in Yellowstone…what a world.

Christine C., on 25 Mar 2008

Paula — It was wonderful to meet you and Lisa…thank you for a lovely evening and for everything you do for WD and conservation!

cathy-california, on 25 Mar 2008

What a horrible site. It is sickening.

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