Letter: ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’

Nancy Housel, Mountain View Resident
Posted 4/3/18

Letter to the editor from Nancy House

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Letter: ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’

Posted

Editor:

As children, most of us probably dreamed of going to see the circus, and most of us probably didn’t get to go. Nonetheless, it was the greatest show on earth.

For about 146 years, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus has performed all across our country. Their performances were wonderful. The first one was on the Mississippi River in McGregor, Iowa, around 1860. They had elephants and horses and tigers and lots of talented performers in their shows.

Well, in 2000, ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and others filed a lawsuit against them (Feld Entertainment), falsely accusing them of mistreating the elephants. We heard about this suit on the news. They had to stop using elephants because of this suit.

I don’t remember about the lawsuit being dismissed or much about the circus going out of business last year due to it. What a shame.

Well, in late 2012, ASPCA agreed to pay $9.3 million to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Didn’t hear much about this on the news either and it doesn’t bring “The Greatest Show on Earth” back.

ASPCA’s false claim has harmed too many of us. What a shame.

That $9.3 million could have been used to help all those poor dogs. What a shame.

The Greatest Show on Earth is gone. What a shameful disgrace.