The Circus {Ringling Brothers}...

I'm very skeptical about these photos.

First of all, they were obviously taken in an open setting. These are not secret photos that were taken surrpetitiously. You would assume that Ringling would not allow such photos to be taken if they were actually abusing the animals. So, you would expect the photos to be taken at some distance and/or with some fuzziness, strange angles, or other unclarities.

Secondly, if these photos are accurate, wouldn't we have heard about this on the news? This would have been a story we would have heard about, and I for one have not even seen or heard whispered rumors.

Thirdly, there's nothing in the pictures that could connect these photos to Ringling. These could be photos of any elephant "training" anywhere.

Also, who's to say that the captions are an accurate description of what is happening? I am especially skeptical since this is a PETA site, and they are not necessarily giving an unbiased, accurate account of what's going on. They do have an agenda, and this could be propaganda.

Of course, I'm not defending animal abuse. I'm just saying that we can't just take these photos and the captions as fact and at face value. Perhaps these animals are truly being abused, but we can't simply accept the claim that these are from the Ringling Circus training program.

Actually, if you look at photo number 5, 7, & 8 among others.

In photo 5, take a look at the shirts two of the guys are wearing and the hat that the guy on the left is wearing.

I went to the Ringling brothers website and compared the logos.

They are one in the same.

You do bring up some good points though Gary.
I do wonder why those photos would be taken so close....

For all we know... those people could be posing with T-Shirts they bought when they went to the circus. Who knows... all I know is that this is disgusting.

Maybe the guy who is being quoted under the captions is a former trainer.....

Well there you have it.

The official story from MSNBC posted December 16th.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34442605/ns ... gton_post/

This is terrible!!!!

The biggest name in Family Entertainment...

Sickening that we as consumers Pay, Cheer, and Love to see these "Tricks" preformed... I've only been to the Circus twice, once when I was a kid and a few years ago when I took my son... Never again... I hope the whole lot of 'em get shut down and the Animals get put into a Refuge or Wildlife park or something...

I only went as a kid.

lestat666 wrote:Well there you have it.

The official story from MSNBC posted December 16th.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34442605/ns ... gton_post/

This is terrible!!!!

Well, perhaps I stand corrected. Sad to say, I'm not surprised.

lestat666 wrote:I only went as a kid.

Yeah, but be honest, in a few years when your soon to be kid is 6 or 8, if you hadn't learned this about the Circus, Would you consider taking your child when the Circus came to town???

That's all I did... We ended up leaving early though, because my son wouldn't sit still and kept bothering other people... He has gotten better about that though... lol