This past weekend, my husband and I saw a show in Vegas called, "Popovich Comedy Pet Theater". I have to tell you, that as an animal rescue person, this might be the best show I've ever seen. Not because it had millions of dollars in production value or expensive costumes, but because the performers are all rescues. SAY WHAT? Gregory Popovich, performer and trainer, has cats, dogs, mice, two little goats, geese and a parrot. All of which are rescued, except for the parrot.
It is made clear in the show a couple of times that he encourages pet adoption. If you do a little more reading, you'll find that he supports spay/neuter. He fundraises for local shelters. He uses positive reinforcement training on all of his animals, and they all live with him and his family on a large, two-house farm area. When the animals are ready to retire, he slowly eases them out of it--still taking them to the shows for a while so that they don't feel left out. A man after my own heart!
You can read an interview in Las Vegas Weekly that goes into more detail here: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/weekly-qa/2013/aug/06/gregory-popovich-pet-retirement-and-how-train-cat/#/0
And of course, a video here. The cuteness is Off. The. CHARTS.
There is a huge debate right now about the use of animals as performers. Many of you may have seen "Blackfish", about killer whales and Sea World. Personally, I did not watch it. I know the story, and after bawling my eyes out watching "The Cove", I didn't think I could handle it. Highly intelligent marine mammals are stripped from their natural environment and forced to live in tiny enclosures in the name of entertaining children and of course, "conservation".
Then, we have the circus. The circus should, and COULD be such a wonderful place to take children. Trapeze performers and tight-rope walkers in sparkly costumes are thrilling to behold. Elephants, huge behemoth performers, with their flappy ears and swaying trunks have a hypnotic effect on the entire audience... so what's the difference? Why is it ok to be enamored of a show with cats and dogs, or with trapeze artists, but be morally repulsed by performing elephants, tigers, dolphins and orcas?
Let's break it down. Circus acrobats = willing performers. They train willingly to travel with the circus. If they are injured, old, or for any other reason decide that they don't want to perform any longer, they retire.
Dogs and cats (and let's just throw in the mice and geese here as domesticated animals) have evolved over thousands of years to coexist with humans. The dog napping quietly at your feet or playing fetch with you in the yard is a product of human intervention and coercion at a biological level. You can't go out into the forest, capture a wolf, and just because it shares very similar DNA with Fido, expect for it to follow you home and be your buddy. A group of Russian scientists have successfully domesticated a close relative of the dog, namely, the fox. There is an in-depth discussion of how they went about it starting in the 1950's in a National Geographic article here if you are so inclined to take that journey.
In the case of the above mentioned Vegas show, where dogs and cats rescued from shelters live with the performer, are still treated as pets, trained with positive reinforcement, and allowed to retire and still live with their humans when they no longer want to perform, I believe it is quite safe to say dogs and cats = willing performers.
What about circus elephants? Elephants are highly social creatures, so does being in front of a large group of people satisfy their social nature? They live out their entire lives walking miles per day, foraging for their food. Does being chained to a train car from city to city satisfy their need to wander? What about family? They stay with a life-long bonded matriarchal family group. If you've ever been around a dog or cat that has puppies or kittens and seen what happens around six weeks of nursing, then you know about the fundamental difference! At six weeks, mama-dog has had enough of the nursing interlopers and starts shaking them off of her. Not that they don't get along once weaning is over, but when mama is done, mama is done.
Not so with elephants. Elephants nurse their calves for upwards of four years. If you'll think back to the Disney movie, Dumbo, you'll recall that the mother elephant was locked away and labeled insane for trying to protect her baby. This representation is actually truer to life than we would like to believe. Baby elephants bound for the circus are ripped from their mothers before one year of age to begin "training". This involves a series of "learned helplessness" exercises. Baby elephants are strapped to the ground, hog-tied, waterboarded. That's right. I said waterboarded. A huge elephant can only be controlled if it thinks it is helpless. Bullhooks are used to stab all over their bodies to keep them in line. Elephants = NON-willing performers. There are plenty of photos and videos, so don't take my word for it, please. You can click here to see training photos, or you can do a simple Google search and find plenty on your own. Again, all of this is done in the name of entertaining children. Oh, and of course, "conservation."
A huge problem here is that parents mean well. Parents want their children to have memorable experiences, to learn about animals, and to be entertained. Businesses like circus groups prey on this. If it really was just about the children, they would have retired their wild animals a long time ago, but they know that elephants bring in crowds.
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| My hero, Gregory Popovich |
It is made clear in the show a couple of times that he encourages pet adoption. If you do a little more reading, you'll find that he supports spay/neuter. He fundraises for local shelters. He uses positive reinforcement training on all of his animals, and they all live with him and his family on a large, two-house farm area. When the animals are ready to retire, he slowly eases them out of it--still taking them to the shows for a while so that they don't feel left out. A man after my own heart!
You can read an interview in Las Vegas Weekly that goes into more detail here: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/weekly-qa/2013/aug/06/gregory-popovich-pet-retirement-and-how-train-cat/#/0
And of course, a video here. The cuteness is Off. The. CHARTS.
There is a huge debate right now about the use of animals as performers. Many of you may have seen "Blackfish", about killer whales and Sea World. Personally, I did not watch it. I know the story, and after bawling my eyes out watching "The Cove", I didn't think I could handle it. Highly intelligent marine mammals are stripped from their natural environment and forced to live in tiny enclosures in the name of entertaining children and of course, "conservation".
Then, we have the circus. The circus should, and COULD be such a wonderful place to take children. Trapeze performers and tight-rope walkers in sparkly costumes are thrilling to behold. Elephants, huge behemoth performers, with their flappy ears and swaying trunks have a hypnotic effect on the entire audience... so what's the difference? Why is it ok to be enamored of a show with cats and dogs, or with trapeze artists, but be morally repulsed by performing elephants, tigers, dolphins and orcas?
Let's break it down. Circus acrobats = willing performers. They train willingly to travel with the circus. If they are injured, old, or for any other reason decide that they don't want to perform any longer, they retire.
Dogs and cats (and let's just throw in the mice and geese here as domesticated animals) have evolved over thousands of years to coexist with humans. The dog napping quietly at your feet or playing fetch with you in the yard is a product of human intervention and coercion at a biological level. You can't go out into the forest, capture a wolf, and just because it shares very similar DNA with Fido, expect for it to follow you home and be your buddy. A group of Russian scientists have successfully domesticated a close relative of the dog, namely, the fox. There is an in-depth discussion of how they went about it starting in the 1950's in a National Geographic article here if you are so inclined to take that journey.
In the case of the above mentioned Vegas show, where dogs and cats rescued from shelters live with the performer, are still treated as pets, trained with positive reinforcement, and allowed to retire and still live with their humans when they no longer want to perform, I believe it is quite safe to say dogs and cats = willing performers.
What about circus elephants? Elephants are highly social creatures, so does being in front of a large group of people satisfy their social nature? They live out their entire lives walking miles per day, foraging for their food. Does being chained to a train car from city to city satisfy their need to wander? What about family? They stay with a life-long bonded matriarchal family group. If you've ever been around a dog or cat that has puppies or kittens and seen what happens around six weeks of nursing, then you know about the fundamental difference! At six weeks, mama-dog has had enough of the nursing interlopers and starts shaking them off of her. Not that they don't get along once weaning is over, but when mama is done, mama is done.
Not so with elephants. Elephants nurse their calves for upwards of four years. If you'll think back to the Disney movie, Dumbo, you'll recall that the mother elephant was locked away and labeled insane for trying to protect her baby. This representation is actually truer to life than we would like to believe. Baby elephants bound for the circus are ripped from their mothers before one year of age to begin "training". This involves a series of "learned helplessness" exercises. Baby elephants are strapped to the ground, hog-tied, waterboarded. That's right. I said waterboarded. A huge elephant can only be controlled if it thinks it is helpless. Bullhooks are used to stab all over their bodies to keep them in line. Elephants = NON-willing performers. There are plenty of photos and videos, so don't take my word for it, please. You can click here to see training photos, or you can do a simple Google search and find plenty on your own. Again, all of this is done in the name of entertaining children. Oh, and of course, "conservation."
A huge problem here is that parents mean well. Parents want their children to have memorable experiences, to learn about animals, and to be entertained. Businesses like circus groups prey on this. If it really was just about the children, they would have retired their wild animals a long time ago, but they know that elephants bring in crowds.
That's where we, as rescue folks, come in. On Wednesday night, July 30th, we're bringing a different kind of crowd to the circus.
Mazie's Mission was founded on many principles, one of which, is to bring rescue groups together. We only serve other rescues, not the public, so we encourage working together with groups that share common interests. The group that has organized this protest of the treatment of animals by Ringling Bros Circus is Animal Connection of Texas. Their website is here. They have created an event on Facebook with the details that you can visit and share here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1422741611346763/
We hope that you will come stand beside us.
It's just a couple of hours for those of us that are willing participants, but it is a lifetime for the non-willing, tortured animals inside American Airlines Center. It is a peaceful protest and signs will be provided.
At the very least, we ask that you share this information so that maybe one day, circuses will only employ willing performers.
Thanks for reading and sharing,
---The Mazie's Mission Family
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