I’ve mentioned so many times how much I love animals. As a young child, the circus animals were one of my favorite acts, but I didn’t know until recently the abuse those beautiful animals had to endure to entertain the young and old alike. If I’d known then what I know now, there would have been one less child attending the circus.
After all, these are wild animals prevented from living in their own habitat and knowing the freedom of running and living day to day with their on kind.
The fast-paced life of the circus, having to move from town to town asnd state to state, left no time to take an animal to the vet when needed. Of course, there was no extra money for such an expense to keep the animals healthy.
Not only that, but they traveled in cages and lived in cages with very little room to move around. I never thought of those things when I was a child.
When the YouTube video showed a close-up of a lion with sunken eyes and a broken-down body and soul, it made me sick to my stomach, and I cried as if I was watching a family member dying before my eyes. This was not the way this was supposed to be.
The next video showed a lioness cut from the chains and taken to a wild animal reserve, where it slowly walked from its cage and touched grass for the first time. She rolled and stretched and walked around. Now this was the life she should have always known.
After a couple of months of well-needed medical help and food, she showed a much stronger and more muscular body and was finally able to run through the trees and feel that cool grass on rested feet.
One of the moments that touched my heart was when I saw her lying side by side with a lion, finally knowing a warmth and closeness she had never known. That was such a special bond she had never known even existed while traveling the circus life.
I’m so thankful she got to experience the good side of life, even though it was two years later that she died of kidney failure and other problems that had resulted from her previous lifestyle. I’m so glad there were others that were rescued who had a much longer life in the wild animal reserve.
It was so good to learn that wild animals are not prone to the circus life any more because of the “capture and release” that is continuing daily.
I would only consider going to a circus again if it was wild-animal-free and still showed a high-wire act. Now, don’t go getting the wrong ideas about me. It would require a safety net and a safety harness, just in case someone fell.
See there. I love people, too!
Until next time, put some fun in your life.
