This is the depressing truth behind the greatest show
on Earth.
These photos, taken by former Ringling Bros. and
Barnum & Bailey Circus trainer Sam Haddock, show the brutal process of
preparing elephants for the circus. A young elephant calf is tied up with rope,
his mother nowhere in sight, while a group of "trainers" contort the
young animal into the positions he needs to learn to perform.
In some photos, the so-called trainers can be seen
using a bullhook to control the elephant calf. The pointed instruments are used
to jab elephants in entertainment or labor into "behaving," and have
been banned in several U.S. cities.
The training process is painful, both physically and
psychologically — the baby elephants are often brutally ripped away from their
mothers before training begins.
Sometimes it turns deadly. An 8-month-old calf named
Ricardo was euthanized in 2004 after he fell off a platform during training and
broke two legs. A few years earlier, a 3-year-old drowned after running into
the water to escape his trainer's bullhook.
Of course, Ringling Bros. has since announced that it
would end its circus elephant program — though the company has said they will
be retired to the Center for Elephant Conservation, the Florida training and
breeding center where these photos were taken. It's unclear if the elephants
will still be trained to perform.
But these photos are hardly unique to Ringling Bros.
Baby circus elephants around the world go through a similar process to prepare
them for performances and make them docile enough to handle.
The process is used in Thailand and other places
where elephant rides and labor are common. There, it's known as a
"training crush," because it crushes a young elephant's spirit, and
can involve beatings, sleep deprivation and starvation.
Sadly, if an elephant is docile enough to be controlled
by humans, he has probably gone through a process similar to the one shown
above. The best way to avoid supporting these industries is to not support any
attraction that features elephants doing tricks, giving rides or otherwise
performing — and the same applies to other wild animals.
Fortunately, there are people working to help
elephants rescued from scenes like this one. If you'd like to help, you can
make a donation to the Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary for Thailand's
elephants, or The Elephant Sanctuary and the Performing Animal Welfare Society,
two U.S.-based groups that provide a safe haven for former circus elephants.
Source : Thedodo