APNewsBreak: Ringling Bros. circus to close after 146 years

[tammywammy]

Source: AP via WaPo

ELLENTON, Fla. — After 146 years, the curtain is coming down on “The Greatest Show on Earth.” The owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus told The Associated Press that the show will close forever in May.

The iconic American spectacle was felled by a variety of factors, company executives say. Declining attendance combined with high operating costs, along with changing public tastes and prolonged battles with animal rights groups all contributed to its demise.

“There isn’t any one thing,” said Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment. “This has been a very difficult decision for me and for the entire family.”

The company broke the news to circus employees Saturday night after shows in Orlando and Miami.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/apnewsbreak-ringling-bros-circus-to-close-after-146-years/2017/01/14/672bfe94-dad0-11e6-a0e6-d502d6751bc8_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_apcircus-1030pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

[True Dough]

1. It was inevitable

They can't compete with the new president and his administration!

[C Moon]

36. :D

[ciaobaby]

2. Thank God.

Fewer animals being tortured in the name of entertainment.

[brooklynite]

5. There's a lot more to the Circus than animal acts...

[ciaobaby]

8. Great - then they should have not used the animals at all.....

[Rural_Progressive]

13. I suspect it is difficult to take a trip back in time for many of us

but when the circus was in its heyday it was the only exposure many people had to the fact there were such animals on earth. Remember we are talking the late 1800s. Like so many things, some circuses did a good job caring for their animals, some didn't but for a period of time they really did perform a useful service.

My parents took me once back in the 60s. For a kid from a small town without television it really was quite an event. My family farmed and cared for livestock the way it was done before industrial ag became mainstream. My father was very sensitive to animals, always knew if one of ours was sick before it showed and we hardly ever had a ewe lamb that he didn't predict a day before. So when he said that the animals at the circus we attended were well cared for and content with their lot I suspect they were.

[ciaobaby]

21. They may not show they are suffering - animals are like that.

The training of the animals to perform is not normal, frequently cruel and always stressful to the animal.
Animals are not here for our amusement. They deserve a life that allows them to be in their natural environment.
I am not sure what you mean by saying they performed a useful service.
Elephants dancing, monkeys riding elephants, and lions jumping through rings of fire is not providing any service.
It is a sad and depressing life to be hauled around in a small iron cage only let out for training or the next performance where a whip is used to insure they perform as the master desires.
An ugly business that needs to come to an end.

[Rural_Progressive]

30. I think I explained the useful service

part of my post, if you chose to deny the value that is your choice. And by the way animals are not like that. If you know how to listen, know what to look for, and quietly observe you know if an animal, at least the more complex ones, are suffering

I suspect you have not lived around animals all your life, with the exception of my time at university and the service I have.

I'm also betting your an urban dweller and have a lovely fantasy about the "natural environment."

If you don't live close to the land you can not understand it. I happen to think it is cruel and inhumane to raise a child in an environment where the only grass they get to play on is at a park. Where they live in buildings crammed with hundreds and sometimes thousands of other humans. Where they never can just go off and play by themselves, climb a tree when they want or stick their feet in a creek while they watch a swallow swooping about picking off insects.

I see those children being hauled around in small metal vehicles only being let out to go to some organized activity or school where incentives are used to insure they perform as society desires.

Yet, people continue to live in cities and children continue to thrive in them. Most people in this country would be bored out of their minds and furious about the lack of conveniences they take for granted if they were forced to live the life I live.

It's a matter of perspective. Many animals enjoy interacting with humans. I suspect that getting fed well and not having to catch their own prey, not having worry about predators is probably pretty nice if you happen to be a prey item. So if they are well treated, given appropriate social interactions who are you to decide that is not a good life for them.

Have humans behaved in atrocious ways to towards animals, you bet, but considering what we done to one another, what would you expect. Try not to tar everything with the same brush, much of life is not simple or easily understood.

One thing liberals need to get over is a belief that we know what is best for everybody and that we understand how systems work that we have never experienced.

I doubt the time I've taken to write this is going to have any impact on your belief system. Hopefully others who read our exchange will contemplate what we have both said and give our thoughts some consideration.

"“It's an universal law-- intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

[ciaobaby]

33. Well that was a whole lot of assumptions about me.

I will just ask you a few quesions:
How do you think these animals came to be in a circus ?
What do you think is the motivation of the circus owners ?
Do you think the circus owners are hauling the animals around the country so they can enjoy the view?
Do you really think there is any other motivation than $$$$$$$.

And then consider the FACTS:
https://www.paws.org/get-involved/take-action/explore-the-issues/circus-cruelty/

Circus animals are confined virtually all of their lives in barren conditions, while forced to suffer extreme physical and psychological deprivation:

Virtually 96 percent of their lives are spent in chains or cages.
11 months a year they travel over long distances in box cars with no climate control; sleeping, eating, and defecating in the same cage.
When allowed out, these animals are trained using extreme "discipline" such as whipping, hitting, poking, and shocking with electrical prods.
Even though the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets minimum standards of care, most itinerary stops are not inspected.
When circuses portray unnatural and inaccurate images of how wild animals live and act, in such an unrealistic context, this creates a greater disconnect between people and wild animals, promoting the notion that it's acceptable, even enjoyable to exploit animals for entertainment. Circuses perpetuate an outdated attitude that wild animals are ours to use at any cost to their welfare-an attitude that PAWS, other animal protection groups, wildlife organizations and zoos work tirelessly to counteract through outreach and education.

[secondwind]

34. I agree with you 100%... n/t

[ciaobaby]

35. Thank you

It is so sad that many just see the animal, think it's beautiful, and assure themselves all is well.
It is a sad and cruel business.

[zentrum]

39. This

It's absurd to think they were "well cared for".

You said everything there is to say about how ugly and immoral and cruel it was. Thank God it's over.

[CrispyQ]

63. Wow. What a post.

"So if they are well treated, given appropriate social interactions who are you to decide that is not a good life for them."

Who are you to decide that a life spent in captivity is a good life for them?

"One thing liberals need to get over is a belief that we know what is best for everybody and that we understand how systems work that we have never experienced."

Your entire post is a great example of this.

I believe that in the majority of encounters between human & animal, the animal does not benefit.

[cab67]

47. concepts of animal suffering have changed over the past 140 years.

What circuses do with animals is indefensible given what we currently know, but circus operators genuinely did believe their animals were well-treated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So did zoo operators in the days when zoo animals lived in bare cages. It was wrong, and any such zoos that still exist should be closed down, but animal intelligence and emotional range were understood differently.

Side point: if you want to see cruelty in the name of entertainment, watch some of the dinosaur movies made in the mid-20th century. It was common to film living reptiles up close, sometimes with fake spikes or horns attached to some part of the body, as "dinosaurs." It was also common for these reptiles to be shown fighting on screen, and it usually ended badly for one of the combatants. I taught a seminar last fall about the history of dinosaur pop culture, and I was compelled to issue trigger warnings before the students watched the 1959 version of Journey to the Center of the Earth or the 1960 version of Lost World. (And I flat-out declined to assign them the 1940 version of 1 Million Years BC - it's brutal.)

[Dustlawyer]

48. While not commenting on the circus, I will comment on animals in their natural environment.

Many zoos now do a better job in keeping their animals happier, but many do not. The real crime is what has happened in Africa. There are no more wild animals in Africa except in some of the parks. Hunters and poachers have killed all of the wild game. Many of the parks are seeing their populations of animals decline due to poaching and the animals wondering outside the parks. Most of the animals are being raised to be hunted.

[tammywammy]

16. If you read the article

After they removed the elephants attendance dropped significantly.

[ciaobaby]

18. Yes, but it's not just elephants that suffer in this environment.

[LanternWaste]

66. Is anyone making the argument otherwise...?

Is anyone making the argument otherwise...?

[C Moon]

37. +1000

[mindem]

3. Wow

Expect all of the clowns to run for congress as repukes in 2018.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

53. hahaha!! maybe the clowns already did... why circus had to shut down?!

[mucifer]

6. Yay!!!!

[dalton99a]

7. Failing and unable to compete. Sad!

[retrowire]

9. Slow applause*

I admire and commend what they have given to culture in general. But it is high time that the animal rights are finally respected and observed.

Times change. Curtains fall.

Take a bow, and let's move on.

[Ellen Forradalom]

14. End of an era.

[Fla Dem]

58. Just saw an ad for the RB circus coming to a city near me.

My immediate thought was God, I thought they went out of business a long time ago. So glad to see it's finally happening. No more exploitation of animals.

[rickford66]

10. The GOP circus put them out of business.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. Ooooh. They had two huge circus trains. I'm going to miss them.

They run one up from Richmond to DC in March, I think. I'll get to see it one last time.

What will everyone do?

[George II]

12. I was out running in Central Park one afternoon many years ago. There was a ruckus and...

....a lot of noise, police sirens and lights. Turns out that when the circus arrived in NYC, it was the circus parading through the park and down Broadway to Madison Square Garden.

Amazing what you see in Manhattan in the middle of the day!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

17. The circus parade used to go north on 3rd Street directly in front of the U. S. Capitol

on its way from where all the performers and animals unloaded from the train to the Convention Center.

Department of Labor employees gathered on the roof of their building to watch it go by. The sidewalks were jammed with crowds of people. Police would block traffic so that it could go by.

Once, I saw a tour bus headed west on Constitution Avenue stopped by the police so that the parade could pass. The driver did not know at first why he was being stopped, but he figured it out quickly. Seeing the animals and performers, he opened the door of the bus. All the kids on board poured out to take in the spectacle. They were just delighted.

Did they ever have great timing.

[demmiblue]

15. Good. n/t

[Calista241]

19. I actually went to this circus 10 years ago or so.

The treatment of the animals was appalling. To this day I'm ashamed I attended this show.

[pstokely]

20. Make Ringling Bros great again

[Chicago1980]

22. I guess I'll have to throw the ole 'DUMBO' dvd on to have a circus experience now.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

23. Or "The Greatest Show on Earth"

1952, Best Picture.

[jmowreader]

24. Naah...just roll up on C-SPAN.

[Chicago1980]

28. Unless the republicans throw shrouds over the cameras.

[Tiggeroshii]

25. Some good news for once!

[TexasBushwhacker]

26. I'm sorry for the folks losing their jobs

But I'm happy for the animals.

[MFM008]

27. Hmmm

What? No more torturing animals for profit?!

[Lint Head]

29. Silent movies are gone too.

[StevieM]

31. Iggo....are you around?

I am glad that they let go of the elephants back in May of last year.

Apparently the show couldn't survive without them.

[flvegan]

32. "... prolonged battles with animal rights groups all contributed to its demise. "

Bye. The end of your abuse is a victory. GFY.

[kimbutgar]

38. Amazing it took the election of a clown to end the most famous circus.

[BumRushDaShow]

43. And his deadly new circus gets sworn in on January 20th, 2017.

[No Vested Interest]

40. Ringling Circus will be in Cincinnati March 10- 19, 2017.

A crowd always gathers to see the animals and human players parade from the circus trains to the US Bank Arena - a performance in itself.

It is said that the manure from the circus animals is of high quality and aids in the production of whatever plant life receives it. Plus it is free.

[chimpymustgo]

49. Crowds gathered for lynchings. nt

[yuiyoshida]

41. Its not really closing...the CLOWN CAR will return to

Washington DC!

[Jamaal510]

42. That's a shame.

I would've liked to attend at least one of their shows and see some of their most popular acts. I've never been to a circus before.

[BumRushDaShow]

44. Consider

UniverSoul or Cirque Du Soleil. The last time I want to a Ringling Bros. show, I was in my single digits of age. But my sisters have taken their kids to both the linked shows and said they were fantastic.

[secondwind]

54. You would not have liked the way they treat the animals.. the last RB circus I saw was about 15

years ago at Madison Square Garden... I was horrified to see a large muzzled brown bear in a tiny cage, waiting to come on next, swaying his head back and forth from the stress... I resolved never to give these people a dime every again.

They shuttle these poor animals from place to place, long train rides in very confined cars, it is a real mess.. so happy this now a thing of the past.

[BumRushDaShow]

59. Oh I know

The last of my single digit age came in 1971. My mother used to tell me about how the trains would come here to Philly, the tents would be setup, and the performers and animals would be unloaded, and paraded to the venue. She was of the generation (born in 1930) that grew up with no TV of course because there was none... but they went to the movies and to things like the circus or to Atlantic City (where they had another atrocity - the "Diving Horses&quot .

Ringling Brothers also featured other things in the past that needed to go away as well, although obviously not getting as much attention as the animals -

[murielm99]

65. I went to one of their shows when

my children were in elementary school. They are in their thirties now.

I am glad we got to see one of their shows. I will have to remember to ask my kids what they remember about it.

Circuses were more common when I was young. I remember going to the circus a couple of times, when I was around ten. These were smaller, regional circuses.

Before I was married, I went to a circus that featured Carla Wallenda.

[OldRedneck]

45. NO problem . . .

. . . the Trump Circus is much more entertaining.

[Mendocino]

46. Maybe rodeo can go away next.

It's basically a western themed circus anyway, complete with clowns.

[Paladin]

56. No RODEO???

What would all those guys named Clay, Cody, Cole, Shane, Wyatt or Tray do for a living?

[Mendocino]

60. And Lefty and Buck,

Lavoy and Ryan, Cliven, Ammon.....

[Paladin]

61. Yeah, I bet the Bundy names are gaining some traction. Unfortunately. (nt)

[brooklynboy49]

50. There's a sucker born every minute

They're called working and middle class Republican voters.

[melman]

51. Good

Fuck 'em. Seaworld next.

[milestogo]

52. The new circus will be at the WHITE HOUSE every single day.

[Botany]

55. i hope the animals can live out their lives in comfort.

n/t

[OnlinePoker]

57. No where will kids run away to join?

Congress?

[2naSalit]

62. Good riddance!

[Rustyeye77]

64. Sorry...I know it's not PC...but I will miss it.

Nt

[mahatmakanejeeves]

67. Here's what it looked like when the Blue Train passed the Red Train in Linwood, NC, yesterday:

Hat tip, Trainorders: Eastern Railroad Discussion > RBBB trains to pass near MP 305 about 12:15pm..........