Letter: We should already know about what circus life does to animals

I was shocked at the June 24 front-page picture of the caravan of elephants walking down the Strip en route to the Thomas & Mack Center. It was such an unnatural sight to see.

It is plain to see that circus animals are denied the pleasures of life nature intended them to enjoy. They are forbidden to move freely from place to place, forbidden to bathe frequently, denied unfettered contact with their own species and disallowed access to their natural habitats.

Their lives are endless confinement and stress so that they can perform demeaning and senseless tricks in the name of entertainment.

Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, should clearly see that it's time for a change. A century ago we were ignorant about what we were doing to circus animals, but today we know that abnormal circus life is highly stressful to these animals.

Many circus animals suffer cruel punishment behind the scenes and many are victims of tuberculosis. All circus animals display abnormal behavior as a result of circus life, and the severely deprived environment and artificial lifestyle circus life imposes shortens the life span of circus animals.

There are many other concessionaires and events to entertain children without causing cruelty to animals such as: Circus OZ, Circus Smirkus, Le Cirque du Soleil, Nexus Circus and The Pickle Family Circus.

Shame on those for promoting such an event.

Valerie Buchanan

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