elephant | InCity Times

By Rosalie Tirella

We’ve been in the fight for wild animals for 15 YEARS!

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has been abusing wild animals for almost a century and a half!

Now it’s all over for them!

AMERICA HAS CHANGED! It’s not 1871 – when Ringling started out – several years after the Civil War!, an era when Black men, women and even little children were sold in manacles (the babes had theirs on their little necks!)! Mere beasts of burden to American society – one shirt for a man per half year, children went naked – even in winter – women were raped by “masters,” disease ravaged families … unimaginable suffering. America faces her ORIGINAL SIN – slavery – every day!

Back then wild animals in Ringling were shackled, too! Slaves, too! The slavery continued…

Until this past Sat. nite when Ringling told its workers…NO MORE.

FREEDOM!!!!!!!!

An AMERICAN IDEAL becoming A FACT OF LIFE every day!

Compassion!

We embrace it, in spite of president-elect Donald Trump and his henchmen!

Americans saw and UNDERSTOOD the plight of tigers, lions, elephants, chimps – all feeling and knowing “mystery achievements”! – in circuses, road side zoos, zoos … and our hearts were broken! We boycotted Ringling, didn’t take our kids to the circus but instead educated them.

Vegetarianism (low, low meat) is the hip way to eat! Tofu is mainstream! (Farm animals suffer, too!)

InCity Times has been at the vanguard of a new, more compassionate America for ALL animals … and Worcester County! FOR 15 YEARS!

So, I’m proud, proud, proud to write this:

FINALLY! RINGLING CIRCUS SHUTTING DOWN! THANK YOU, PETA, CONCERNED PARENTS AND KIDS AND CITY AND TOWN LEADERS throughout the land! On the Worcester front, Thank You, Steve Baer, Deirdre Healy, Deb Young and all THE TERRIFIC INCITY TIMES WRITERS (including moi😉) who’ve educated Worcester County and Worcester about the horrific lives wild animals live in circuses! Story, after story, after story! We’ve worked so hard!

I will always love our animal rights writers!!! For being so kind! For being so fearless! For being so selfless! For being so political! … And for being such kick-ass writers!

Rose and her rescued lil’ girl, Cece. (3 days ago/pic:R.T.)

THANK YOU!

It’s been an HONOR TO PUBLISH your circus, circus elephant and wild animals cover stories, columns and photos!

WE DID IT!

TEARS OF JOY!!!

WHAT A GREAT WAY TO BEGIN 2017!

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From PETA.ORG:

All other animal circuses, roadside zoos, and wild animal exhibitors, including marine amusement parks like SeaWorld and the Miami Seaquarium, must take note: society has changed, eyes have been opened, people know now who these animals are, and we know it is wrong to capture and exploit them.

*******

Beautiful voices!

(Southwick’s Zoo urged to publicly release Dondi the elephant’s veterinary records)

editor’s note: For years Southwick’s has been nothing but an exotic animal death camp PRETENDING to care for animals. 15 or 20 years ago, they made the news (they have made the news several times) for their shitty wild animal housing. I went down there and saw: a chimp in a fake circus train car sitting on a bale of hay! That was it! That was its home! Their lion? In a fenced in bit of concrete sitting in the middle of the dump – all ribs, all hip joints. No shade – no “habitat.”

A crime! A crime they had to pay for: they were ordered to build more suitable habitats for the poor animals that “live” tragic lives at the Southwick “zoo.” Do not kid yourself! There are no real vets/experts there. There is no one who is a true biologist/scientest caring for the animals. This place is strictly a money maker – no better than Barnum and Bailey’s.

Let’s work to free Dondi’s “vet” records. I bet they did little for that poor creature!

Boycott Southwick’s in Mendon, Massachusetts!

– Rosalie Tirella

now the article:

San Rafael, Calif. – In Defense of Animals (IDA) today filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), urging an investigation into the death of Dondi, an Asian elephant held at the Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon, Massachusetts. Dondi died on Wednesday, after suffering an unidentified illness.

“Dondi’s unexpected death raises a red flag because at age 36 she should have been in the prime of life,” said Catherine Doyle, IDA Elephant Campaign director. “We are asking the USDA to investigate the circumstances surrounding Dondi’s death as a matter of public interest and public safety.”

In a separate letter sent to Southwick’s Zoo president Justine Brewer, IDA urged the zoo to publicly release Dondi’s veterinary records and necropsy reports, saying, “The public has a right to know the cause of Dondi’s death.”

Dondi was in direct contact with the public at the Southwick’s Zoo, where she gave rides during the summer months; she performed circus tricks and gave rides during the winter at various locations in Florida. Elephants can harbor diseases transmissible to humans, including tuberculosis, which can be difficult to detect. Release of the records would hopefully allay any public health concerns. Continue reading Boycott Southwick’s Wild Animal Farm! In Defense of Animals urges feds to investigate Elephant Death at Southwick’s Zoo →