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Staples Center is used to hosting a media circus, but sometimes they get the real thing.
A few weeks after the Lakers parade came an elephant parade, which happened to be a few hours before Michael Jackson's memorial service. The pachyderms have been there ever since and will be entertaining Southland crowds until August 2 as part of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.
Emily Nerland and Michelle Phalen caught up with the show's eleven Asian elephants this week, lending a hand during bath time.
Elephant treatment has been a hot-button topic on LAist before. We only spent about an hour with these beautiful animals, but they certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves and well cared for. Since the circus is a traveling show, it means that the elephants live with their trainers full-time and there's a strong bond between them.
Some protesters did come out to Staples this week, but none we spoke with could provide much insight. Ringling Bros. has recently come under fire from groups like PETA, but maintains that they have never been found in violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act. They also claim to spend over $60,000 per year on each of their 54 elephants. Add it up -- that ain't peanuts.
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FUCK THE CIRCUS.
Hear, hear.
Some protesters did come out to Staples this week, but none we spoke with could provide much insight. Ringling Bros. has recently come under fire from groups like PETA, but maintains that they have never been found in violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act. They also claim to spend over $60,000 per year on each of their 54 elephants. Add it up -- that ain't peanuts.
It really doesn't matter how much money they spend. Have we learned nothing from the controversy over the elephants at the LA Zoo? It's sad that these animals are kept confined and paraded around for people.
Turning elephants into trick monkeys is hardly the same as elephants in the zoo. And thanks for bringing up that miserable event where an idiot councilman in the Valley whipped up half the city with BS for his own benefit.
I'm not going to spend my hard earned money on a circus that uses animals. There are too many other options.
Just because the elephants appeared to be enjoying getting hosed down in this heat doesn't mean they love being in captivity or enjoy being forced to do stupid tricks on the other end of a sharp stick for the rest of their lives. The circus spends a lot of money on them because it would cost more money to replace them than not to.
A strong bond between the elephants their trainers does not justify what these elephants and other circus animals are forced to endure. It's unfortunate that the protesters you spoke to weren't eloquent enough to get their point across, sometimes when you're really passionate about something trying to explain it to someone who doesn't understand or who isn't open to your message can be a challenge... that doesn't mean they're not right.
Fuck the circus indeed.
http://www.circuses.com/ringling.asp
"Fuck the circus indeed."
FUck that! Poor elephants...i'ma go set them free!
What a terrible article. Please do your research like a real journalist. Lack of legal action in violation of the AWA means nothing as that is a weak, pathetic, and rarely enforced act. How many times will we see articles like this that pat Ringling on the back when the public at large knows by now that these elephants are beaten in order to be forced to perform. Their CEO even recently admitted in court that all trainers strike elephants. Check out the videos and documentation at Circuses.com as one example.
Be informed.