|
Dear :
I
understand that [name of event] will feature [description of animal
act]. My family and I will not attend an event where animals are
exploited.
While it may be too late to alter this year's event,
when making next year's plans, please follow the progressive lead of
Lions Club International (LCI), who recently advised its clubs to beware
of using "circuses and other events that may abuse animals used as part
of the entertainment." In its September 2000 online newsletter, LCI
stated, "Organizations that may use inherently dangerous wildlife, such
as elephants, tigers, lions, bears, and primates, may pose a potential
safety hazard to the public and could raise ethical concerns regarding
the humane treatment of animals."
Many progressive communities
have banned animal acts altogether within their city limits. In
testimony before the recent ban in Braintree, MA, a board member of the
South Shore Humane Society called the lives of circus and performing
animals "intolerable, atrocious and inhumane...I think 50 years from
now, people will look back at this period of time and they will be
amazed at what we did to animals in the circus."
Animals stolen
from the wild and sold to traveling animal acts and circuses lead
miserable lives. They cannot satisfy even the most natural behaviors.
This leads to extreme stress, which manifests itself in abnormal
behaviors such as constant pacing, tail biting, eating excrement, bar
chewing and constant wobbling. Tigers pace back and forth in tiny cages.
Elephants, often shackled in chains by their front and back legs, cannot
not even take a step forward or backward, or they are confined to
electrified pens, oftentimes directly on pavement. Animals in circuses
are on the road in boxcars for up to 50 weeks out of the year. They get
very little exercise and are cramped in cages or pens their entire
lives. When animals cannot take it any longer, they rebel, causing
injury and sometimes death to trainers and spectators alike.
You
should also be concerned about the danger posed to public health.
According to an April 20, 2001 press release, "Thousands of children are
being exposed to dangerous E. coli bacteria at petting zoos and county
fairs, the government said releasing new warnings about farm animal
exhibits. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited E. coli
outbreaks last year that sickened 56 people, including dozens of
children, at a dairy farm in Pennsylvania and a petting zoo in
Washington state."
Please, for the sake of the animals and the
safety of the public, implement a formal policy against using animal
acts. There is enough other wholesome entertainment available that using
animals in this way shouldn't be necessary.
My family,
neighbors, co-workers, and friends will be boycotting [name of event]
and look forward to hearing that any future events you schedule will
only include cruelty-free entertainment.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Address -
optional]
|
