The Ringling Brothers Draw the Curtain on Their Famous Performers

The Ringling Brothers recently promised to retire elephants in the circus after animal rights activists found out the way elephants were treated when they traveled with the circus and demanded them to be released. The circus used dangerous weapons to force the elephants to cooperate and they lived in harsh living conditions, while getting poorly taken care of. On March 6th the elephants performed their last show two years earlier than the scheduled date. In May they will be sent to a 200 acre preserve in Florida where they can finally be free and not have to perform for “The Greatest Show on Earth”.

The last 11 Asian elephants performing on Sunday, March 6th closed the curtain and are now living freely, with other elephants in a preserve where they will be cared for, and not punished or forced to perform. Maybe not, while they won’t be performing they will be undergoing medical research and animal testing because Dr. Shipman has studied elephants for a while now and realized elephants rarely get cancer so they should be medically tested. Stephen Payne, vice president of communications for Ringling Brothers said “We’re working with Dr. Shipman to see if we might be able to find novel new treatments for cancer for kids, and perhaps for everyone.” They will be forced to undergo tests and treatment to help everyone.

The elephants should not be tested at the preserve because they have been through alot and have worked basically their entire life. They should be free in the preserve like any other elephant in the wild. Elephants are already endangered and we don’t need unnecessary tests and to put anymore cruelty on these gentle giants that have already been through so much. That is not how an animal should live.

~Abigail