Protesters were on hand during the march of the elephants last week. (Photo via Artex on Flickr)
Our trip to check out the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus this past weekend was meant to be silly. We wanted to drink beer, gloat that we were children-free and debate whether the acrobats really were all related.
But several animal rights activists with several hard-to-forget signs were parked outside Madison Square Garden. Showtime rolled around and admittedly the Globe of Steel speeding racers and triple-somersaulting trapeze artists were impressive, but the elephant act was … depressing. I don’t know if they’re mistreated by whatever standard, but they are certainly made to look silly. And not the kind of silly my friends and I were hoping for that night.
-- Emily Ngo
