Ex-trainer accuses circus of elephant cruelty...from the grave

[Contrary1]

"Sammy Haddock started working with elephants when he joined the circus at 20, in 1976, a young man's dream. He walked them, groomed them, cleaned up after them. More than once, he later confessed, he beat them.

Over time, his feelings about elephants grew more tender, especially toward the babies. In 1997 he was hired to work as a handler at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Center for Elephant Conservation, an ambitious program in Florida to breed and preserve endangered Asian elephants. Part of Haddock's job was to help train elephant calves to be circus performers.

He was deeply affected when 8-month-old Riccardo collapsed with leg injuries after tumbling off a tub during pre-training in 2004. Riccardo had to be euthanized. Haddock also began to see things from the point of view of his wife, Millie, an animal lover.

<snip>

Now Haddock's dramatic interpretation of doing "the right thing" is being unleashed -- from the grave. He died early last month in Clermont, Fla., at 53, of liver failure. He left behind scores of pictures and a written recollection of his workplace. They offer a compelling glimpse into the treatment of baby circus elephants. It veers from the image propagated by the industry -- of little creatures contentedly acquiring nimble new moves in return for carrots and grapes.

Dead men do tell tales..."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34442605/ns/us_news-washington_post/

[benld74]

1. I only went to a Circus 1 Time,,

Something about the atmosphere I did not like.
Something wrong with animals performing acts/tricks whatever
I sorta feel the same way about zoos, but with extinctions increasing,,,

[Lyric]

2. I went to a small circus, once.

It was set up in the mall parking lot. The tickets were given to us at school for free.

I remember being excited about the aerialists and the performers, but the two elephants disturbed me. Their eyes looked blank and dead. I felt horrible, and I've never gone back. My kid has never gone, either, and so long as he lives with me, he never will.

[dustbunnie]

3. Those stories of circus animals going berserk and stampeding people don't surprise me.

Circuses that use animals suck big time and wish they could be abolished altogether. Some zoos are no better. They set terrible examples to children for how animals should be treated. The two blond wackos from Las Vegas with their tigers might be an exception since they at least dote on their animals, but even that is marginal.

Best thing to happen was the creative impetus behind the cirque du soleil. People circuses are amazing and we should be supporting those!