The End of the Barnum & Bailey Circus

[Hanarchy Montanarchy]

I'm just saying, I'm not going to the circus to see chickens. Imagine how many chickens it would take to trample a trainer to death!

Worst.Batman.Villain.Ever.

[heydaralon]

I'm just saying, I'm not going to the circus to see chickens. Imagine how many chickens it would take to trample a trainer to death!

Apparently velociraptors weren't much bigger than chickens, so if we brought back the spectacle of the geek biting off and swallowing the head of a raptor I think people would pay good money to see that.

[Speaker to Animals]

I'm just saying, I'm not going to the circus to see chickens. Imagine how many chickens it would take to trample a trainer to death!

I'd still pay to see a guy get mauled by a horde of chickens, though.

[jbird4049]

And yet they aren't smart enough to follow simple directions when a circus employee repeatedly commands them to do something...

You're a disturbed human being. Anyone who cherishes and encourages cruelty to animals is.... just /sigh.

Perhaps the elephants are thinking how stupid humans are, because they can't follow simple directions when the elephant tells the circus employee that he doesn't want to be part of their stupid show.

Another trophy hunter was killed by an elephant on Friday. Congrats to the elephant and good riddance. Trophy hunters... nobody needs them.

I just read all the other posts. Either they are trolling you, or they have a impenetrable wall of ignorance.

[TheReal_ND]

I have an impenetrable wall of keeping border hoppers out

[atanamis]

Yeah, my wife and I will miss Barnum and Bailey as well. We also love animal circuses in general, while at the same time making sure to be aware of the efforts taken to treat the animals properly. Barnum and Bailey always did a pretty good job at this. While my wife was in veterinary school, she got to get an up close tour behind the scenes from their animal care team, and was pretty impressed. As Kath mentioned, Elephants are indeed very intelligent animals, but they do enjoy learning tricks and even performing. I do find it interesting that an organization like PETA that believes keeping animals as pets is equivalent to slavery manages to get as much support as they do though. The fact that they falsify evidence of cruelty has been pretty well established at this point, which is why they have such a low success rate with lawsuits. The real purpose of their lawsuits isn't to get legal judgments, but to sway public opinion.

All of that said, Barnum and Bailey was in trouble even before the elephant lawsuit situation. We have definitely attended a number of performances over the last 8 years which were undersold, and that's been a continuous trend for them for a while now. I do think more talented filler acts than their clown alley might have helped, but circuses are continuing to fade away as an entertainment venue. There are still some smaller circuses which my wife and I will continue to frequent, but those who hate live animal shows may soon get their way just through lack of public interest in the shows.

[de officiis]

I'm guessing that throwing in a good old-fashioned freak show wouldn't have turned the tide...

[Martin Hash]

I'm guessing that throwing in a good old-fashioned freak show wouldn't have turned the tide...

Hey, I'd pay to see a Bearded Lady & some gimps.

[MilSpecs]

Raising a glass to PT Barnum. His work here is done.

[de officiis]

Raising a glass to PT Barnum. His work here is done.