The famous clown Emmett Kelly of Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey altered his makeup after July 6, 1944 with the addition of a painted tear beneath his eye and the rest shall we say is history. It was forever known as “The day the clowns cried”.
His permanent tear and perpetual silence commemorated the great circus fire in Hartford, Connecticut when the main tent burst into flames and over 160 lives, many of them children, were lost in a short period of time. The unidentified body of Little Miss was never claimed and remained a mystery until recent times. The sadness of that day was recorded in this new clown face for the whole world to see and triggered changes in laws that prohibited the circus from coming to Connecticut for some time.
We are now confronted with a new assault on the circus with Connecticut Bill 6555 in the 2009 session, An Act Concerning the Humane Treatment of Elephants. In this bill the mere possession of the tool commonly used in the customary manner to control these wild animals would become a misdemeanor. In all likelihood this act essentially bans “the circus” from “coming to town”.
After all, the animals are trained and controlled by such practices around the world and are not about to be retrained just to come to Connecticut . Uncontrolled elephants would certainly present additional problems that this law does not address. Zoos seem to be exempt, but you wonder how the keepers control these beasts.
This law, then, only has the undesirable effect of banning circuses in Connecticut and the moments of magical imagination that only a live circus can provide to old and young alike.
But Dad (or Mom or Partner), all the other kids in other states get to go, PLEASE!!!
What special interest group could be so mean?
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4 comments:
The circus is more than welcome to continue to come to town, as long as it leaves its devices of cruelty behind. Just because these tools - used "in the customary way" to "control wild animals" is used in other places does not make it ok, and someone has to be the first state to say NO. Dogfighting is legal in several states; would you like it to be ok here? The CEO of Ringling circus testified under oath - in a federal suit claiming that Ringling's treatment of its elephants violates the endangered species act - that all of his trainers strike elephants with the bullhooks regularly and repeatedly. The elephants, who are biologically designed to be almost constantly in motion and who develop fatal foot and bone disease from standing around all day, are chained for up to 100 hours a stretch, and for most of every single day of their lives. How is this not horrific cruelty, and how can we NOT say, as a start, that at least here in our own state we will not allow it to continue. Bring on the circuses that aren't teaching our children that cruelty to animals for entertainment is acceptable.
what about live free? when are we going to stop telling people what to do in this land of liberty? if people think its so bad what a circus does to animals, then don't go to the circus. then they will go out of business. But hey let's stop having government and that means special interests tell people what to do.
I think his point is that until we have a statewide vote, we don't know what ct people want to do. we know Reuben doesn't want to have circuses who prod animals in ct, but that doesn't mean the majority agree with him. let's start voting and find out.
i think there are too many laws and i don't understand why if we do something in one state we don't do it in another? But are elephants the same as dogs and cats? i don't think so. its one thing not to hurt dogs and cats. But elephants and lions can't be the same since they don't live with people at least in this country.
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