March 21, 2008
Ringling Bros. Elephants On Their Way to D.C.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will be at the Verizon Center March 27-30, and you know what that means: it's time once again for the Elephant Walk.
The year's Elephant Walk, when the circus elephants arrive by train and walk to the Verizon Center, is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, March 24. The exact start time often varies due to the capricious personalities of the animals, but you can call (866) 683-3640 on Monday for an updated schedule.
To make your plan to catch the elephants, keep the route in mind: They'll start at Garfield Park in Southeast, and eventually end up on Massachusetts Avenue, passing in front of Union Station, and then take E Street to 6th Street, where they'll arrive at the Verizon Center.
The Post says the animals will be joined in their march downtown this year by clowns and a daredevil. So if you're afraid of clowns, as all right-thinking Americans should be, exercise caution.
Photo of the 2007 Elephant Walk by brownpau
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and if you think elephants being forced to live in a traveling show instead of being in a more natural habitat, make sure you stay away from the parade route, or you might just get angry....
I vote for a reenactment of Hannibal's march to Italy, complete with Carthaginian war elephants. Woe onto he who blocks the box with his Prius.
Remember there's a local connection here. The Bailey family is where Bailey's Crossroads gets it's name. In addition to their menagerie, they pioneered the use of canvas circus tents. All before joining up to form the Greatest Show On Earth!
Can we send the elephants down to the Navy Yard that morning to stomp on the protestors from the Westboro Baptist Church?
Can someone please come up with some funny tagline about elephants in SE and the GOP, since elephants are their mascot?
Monkey? Where you at?
Please don't go to the circus. Animals in circuses live miserable lives. Read what the Humane Society has to say:
http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/issues_facing_wildlife/circuses/
There was an article in a Baltimore paper about three zebras who escaped from the circus. (They were eventually recaptured.) Uh boy. Just can't keep those circus animals happy!
Boo! :(
If anyone knows of a peaceful protest planned around this, or is interested in doing so, please comment here.
But here's the thing: is not going to the circus going to help the animals? Won't that just decrease revenue so that circus -- what are they -- producers cut more costs and put the animals into even worse conditions? Perhaps if overall enough people stop going to the circus they'll become extinct, maybe and eventually, but for today, how does not attending help the animals, exactly? I'm skeptical.
"Not attending" doesn't necessarily affirmatively help the animals, Everett, but you can make a strong argument that going to the circus and supporting their current entertainment model harms them. Your financial argument strikes me as bogus ... the level of care provided to these animals is never going to be positively affected by small increases in ticket revenue, and given the existence of current laws regarding animal welfare, care below a certain minimum level is already illegal.
The only actions that would actually have a tangible impact on the lives of circus animals currently in captivity would be buying their freedom or pushing through legislation that would mandate modifications in the conditions under which they are kept, or eliminate circuses and exotic animal acts altogether. Given the huge expense and/or logistical difficulty involved in either of those efforts, I'd say that just staying home and making sure your dollars don't support the circus is a pretty good first step you can take.
boo. seriously, boo. i wish the dcist wouldn't have even reported on this. the way the circus treats their animals (especially their elephants) is horrendous.