In a letter printed in the Aug. 16 edition of the Beacon, Bruce Read, vice president of animal stewardship, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, responded to an Aug. 9 Beacon letter to the editor accusing Ringling of animal mistreatment. In his response Read cited “Ringling Bros.’ outstanding record of animal care.”
Not able to help myself, I Googled the words in this quote, minus “outstanding.” Predictably, hundreds of articles popped up chronicling Ringlings’ abominable treatment of animals. A number of articles cited an actual court decision and administrative findings. For example, Ringling recently paid $20,000 to settle U.S. Department of Agriculture charges of failing to provide veterinary care to a dying baby elephant.
I am in no way shocked by what I found online. Further, I am not shocked that those fools at Ringling abuse animals. What I do find shocking is that this Read guy, Mister Animal Steward, would actually offer such an idiotic representation. Uhh, Read, note to self, this is 2007. Just because you say cigarettes are good for us doesn’t mean we are going to take your word for it. I suspect that Mr. Read’s limited ability at offering a more effective spin is right on par with Ringling’s ability to humanely treat its animals. However, I really don’t want to sound too harsh.
So let me make this offer, if Ringling replaces its animals with Mr. Read, hitting him with the whip and zapping him with the Taser, I will gladly pay my 20 bucks to watch. Until then, Read can save his nonsensical diatribe for those folks who don’t yet have running water.