The Greatest Show on Earth Makes its Way to the District
‘Elephant with Green Hat’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls…it’s that time of year again! Who doesn’t love the circus? The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey are coming to town next week, complete with a grand entrance and all. The circus will kick off the festivities with its annual elephant parade to Capitol Hill.
Starting at Virginia Avenue SE and ending at the Verizon Center, the parade is set to start at 1pm on March 16th. This year’s special guests appearing in the parade are the Washington Nationals Presidents. So grab the kiddies and catch the show! It starts March 18th at the Verizon Center.
Comments
11 Responses to “The Greatest Show on Earth Makes its Way to the District”
March 10th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
I don’t love the circus. Elephants should live in the wild, not be beaten with bullhooks to get them to parade through the streets and perform on cue.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Another thumbs down on the circus.
It’s one thing to have wild animals in a zoo to raise awareness of their endangerment (or mere existence); it’s another to have them caged up and forced to perform tricks. Plus, clowns are scarey!
March 10th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
ARGH!!! Why am I always out of town when the parade happens?!?!
March 10th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Yeah, I think the circus would be fine minus many of the animal acts. Trained domestic animals who were treated well would be ok (e.g., acts with ladies standing on horses, etc.), but I get sad thinking about the elephants.
March 10th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
There’s also this:
The Greatest Vendetta on Earth
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/08/30/circus/index.html
March 10th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Feld Entertainment (Ringling’s parent corporation) went on trial a year ago for their treatment of elephants. The case was dismissed on a technicality but witness after witness, from Kenneth Feld (owner of Feld Entertainment) down admitted that they beat their elephants, chain them for long hours, transport them in unheated/uncooled train cars and take babies away from their mothers years before they would naturally be weaned.
You can read more about the case, including the transcripts here –
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/a1a6_ringling.php
March 10th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
I should add that the case was dismissed on a technicality — the judge didn’t rule on the merits.
March 10th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
I can’t wait for the circus! Didn’t know it was coming to town thanks for the update!
March 10th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
How sad for the poor elephants. Anybody who does a search on Ringling Brothers will see how they chain and beat them. They separate the babies from their mothers with ropes before they have been weaned and then they torture them for five hours a day.
Horrible!!
March 11th, 2010 at 10:19 am
Dammit. I had the “outraged elephant treatment” commenters at 15. C’mon We♥DC! We can do better than that. :)
We all know, nothing fun ever came without a little torture, right?
March 11th, 2010 at 10:46 am
Clearly you’ve been studying the Dick Cheney Management School Techniques, Kevin!