Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Sat, Jun 19, 2010 (10:28 a.m.)

On Friday night at the Orleans Arena, a space occupied much of the year by a hockey rink and dim lighting was transformed into a classic three-ring-circus as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey came into Las Vegas for the weekend. The show titled Barnum’s FUNundrum! included fireworks, midgets, elephants, baton twirlers, death-defying acrobats, punk clowns, stilt-walkers dressed as exotic birds, singers, dancers, contortionists and tigers, all in the first 15 minutes of the show.

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Discussion: 19 comments so far…

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1. By stevem

   June 19, 2010

   7:44 p.m.

   i can not believe that a newspaper as liberal as the sun would give any free press to this company.

   they abuse animals.

2. By irvinf

   June 20, 2010

   7:24 a.m.

   Wow... still using the word "midgets." I'm sure more readers will be concerned about the animals rather than humans being called "midgets." Way to go Sun!
   As far as the abuse allegations, there is so much more incriminating video than was shown on the InBusiness morning show this morning. Play fair as well, where was the Ringling spokesperson?

3. By airweare (Joe Lamy)

   June 21, 2010

   6:37 a.m.

   stevem,

   they are actually very kind and loving to their animals. I know because I worked for Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth.

   Our elephant even had a friend coming along with us. It was the zebra that had absolutely no part to play in the circus except to be there for the elephant. We fed and tended, exercised and cared for that zebra just like family because he and our elephant were buddies.

   Ringling even has its own special place to take care of older elephants and spends gobs of those circus bucks taking care of the critters in Florida.

   Go ahead and bash away at those awful humans for bringing you an experience beyond your hum-drum waste-your-time-gamblin and boozin life.

   Those who are so encapsulated by their self-abuse seem quick to finger others for a show they'll never forget!

4. By airweare (Joe Lamy)

   June 21, 2010

   6:40 a.m.

   free advertsising

   free

   LOL

   LMAO

   midget mind stuck in a magnificent galaxy of glory, clueless

5. By STARBEAMS

   June 21, 2010

   8:48 a.m.

   How well does sores on caged cats look up close.

6. By cashmaae

   June 21, 2010

   9:34 a.m.

   Please consider going to an animal free circus. Every major circus that uses animals has been cited for violating the minimal standards of care set forth in the United States Animal Welfare Act (AWA).

   Here are 10 facts about circuses that use animals:
   http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?p=4...

   BigCatRescue.org is a great sanctuary that rescues exotic cats including those that were once in the circus.

7. By kvg2009

   June 21, 2010

   10:46 a.m.

   Unfortunately there isn't much entertainment value for children in an animal-free circus. My 4yo niece wanted to see the elephants and didn't care about what was going on in between. Where else is she going to be able to see an animal like that?

   I absolutely do not condone animal abuse of any kind..but I've seen worse things that humans have done to helpless animals on Animal Planet.

8. By firemedic52

   June 21, 2010

   12:05 p.m.

   Replying to kvg2009..What you and your niece don't see at the circus is what goes on behind the view of the public. As for seeing an elephant or other exotic animals try a zoo funded by tax payer dollars.

9. By kvg2009

   June 21, 2010

   12:50 p.m.

   and where would there be a zoo like that around las vegas?

10. By cernuto

    June 21, 2010

    1:30 p.m.

    Wow! Enslaved animals and midgets too? WooHoo!

    WTF? Is this a reprint from archives or what?

11. By airweare (Joe Lamy)

    June 22, 2010

    6:47 a.m.

    Those of us whacking away at the circus, poiting out how awful circus acts can be, are reminiscent of hippies telling farmers that they are really bad people because they profit from sharing their harvest, use fossil fuels to harvest solar energy produce, and don't care about the soil!

    The circus babies their critters like the farmers tend their topsoil. Go to the circus before you whack 'em. See the joy; feel the love.

12. By airweare (Joe Lamy)

    June 22, 2010

    6:52 a.m.

    Enslaved animals! What, Republicans? Meat eaters? Oil dependent non-walkers? TV addicts? Smokers? Drinkers? Posters? Goof balls getting paid to post? Goof balls pissing away their lives looking at a flat screen like wasted hippies gathered around the lava lamp: 'Wow, did u see dat blob go up?'

13. By KatieAnne

    June 22, 2010

    9:02 p.m.

    Please do not attend or support circuses that use animals. In doing these we are keeping the slave trade alive and well. Here are some facts about Ringling Brothers: In 2009, PETA recorded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus employees for many months and in numerous U.S. states. Eight employees, including the head elephant trainer and the animal superintendent, were videotaped backstage repeatedly hitting elephants in the head, trunk, ears, and other sensitive body parts with bullhooks and othercruel training devices just before the animals would enter the arena for performances. (A bullhook is an elephant-training tool that resembles a fireplace poker.) A tiger trainer was videotaped beating tigers during dress rehearsals. Footage from the investigation can be viewed at RinglingBeatsElephants.com. Former Ringling employees have reported that elephants are routinely abused and violently beaten with bullhooks. In December 2009, PETA released dozens of photographs taken by a retired Ringling trainer named Sam Haddock. The photos reveal the violent training methods used on baby elephants at Ringling's Polk City, Florida, training center. The photos, which are available at RinglingBeatsAnimals.com, depict baby elephants bound with ropes and wrestled into physically difficult and uncomfortable positions by several adult men. According to Haddock's notarized statement, the elephants scream, cry, and struggle as they are stretched out, slammed to the ground, gouged with bullhooks, and shocked with electric prods. According to him, these violent training methods are the only way an elephant can be trained to perform in circuses.

14. By stevem

    June 23, 2010

    12:32 a.m.

    only a shill for this company would defend it. the videos are EVERYWHERE of trainers and handlers abusing elephants.

    only a moron would call ME a moron or a "hippie"...something i am clearly not if you've read ANY of my posts in the last 2 years on this site...for pointing out the reality that you want to hide from.

    conservatives love animals as much as anyone else.

    this company hurts animals. period.

15. By cernuto

    June 23, 2010

    2:43 a.m.

    A concern for animals is not unique to dems or reps. Rush Limbaugh stumps for the Humane Society and Bill Maher for PETA.
    But a lack of concern for animals IS unique to idiots! This type of entertainment (animals and midgets?) is moronic and, thankfully, more enlightened people are coming to understand this, and the ones that don't are dying off!

16. By airweare (Joe Lamy)

    June 23, 2010

    9:07 a.m.

    Ok

    I didn't know about these people doing these things. Back in the day when I worked the circus, it was NOT this way as far as i could know.

    Bucolic comes to mind - the tending of critters, an old-time black and white photo of friends of different species playing for fun and gentle entertainment. That was my world.

    Why in the hell are those guys beating the elephants? Elephants are such playful, powerful and amiable beasts.

    Thank you my friends for persisting in your defense of critters. I am with them, for being an elephant in the wild, not in a cage. Not in a human zone, but an elephant zone.

    When I was 16 I saw a little brick hut outside this ante-bellum mansion I worked on. I went in and touched those rusty chains embedded in the walls. Let my elephants go!

    It's Feld Entertainment now. They do Disney on Ice and all kinds of fancy productions, but they still do Ringling and apparently are doing it mean. Terminate their inhumanity!

17. By airweare (Joe Lamy)

    June 23, 2010

    9:15 a.m.

    BTW, back in the day, the CLOWNS were the stars of the show for the adults and the elephants of course, for the kids.

    And we had the best bunch of musicians! And the Europeans, mostly from Bulgaria, were such party animals. Beer guzzlers and howling late night singers!

    Nobody could have gotten away with this kind of animal abuse on our tour. But it was different back then.

18. By irvinf

    June 24, 2010

    2:45 p.m.

    airweare... I noticed that post-Gunther Gebel-Williams and his son's era is when Ringling started having problems with the animal abuse. Notice I didn't use the term "allegations" of animal abuse. From those videos it is clear abuse is present these days. I did see the show last week and it was entertaining from start to finish.

19. By Joelipp

    July 1, 2010

    9:56 p.m.

    Bring back the freaks in the side show.