Ringling’s decision is a loss for everyone

By Jan Biggerstaff, Las Vegas

Tuesday, March 31, 2015 | 2 a.m.

I also would like to thank Ringling Bros. for the many years of providing family entertainment for legions of children. However, Ringling’s decision to move its elephants from performing to its center for elephant conservation is a loss for us all.

No longer will our children, grandchildren or even grandparents be amazed by the elephants’ size (“I didn’t know they were that big!”), agility (“I didn’t know they could do that!”) or speed (“Look how fast they can run!”) at the Ringling performances. Most of us had our first glimpse and subsequent love affair with elephants at a circus.

Not only will we not see these wondrous animals, we will lose our immediate concern about their well-being, the catastrophe of their natural habitat decreasing and the resulting culling of elephant families, and the continuing slaughter in the wild for tusks. Money and involvement is needed to curb these criminal activities, but without the circus bringing elephants in our immediate world, the elephants will soon be forgotten. Not only their loss, but ours.

If asked what People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals would like to see happen to circus animals, we are told first to send money and second that they should be returned to their natural habitat. When faced with decisions about the fate of rescued domestic animals, this same group was cited in Virginia for an 81 percent kill rate at its shelter. How sad for us all.