AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Holy ^&*t I saw an elephant today

I too was really sickend when I saw the amimals but the truth of the matter is that a lot of locals children and adults are so excited to see these animals and a lot of them will never have the chance to see an elephant or lion. I will not be going but I can garuantee you that I will be a minority there will be a lot of people going this week and that will keep this circus in buisness, and for some of the parents on this island the circus is something they can afford to bring their children too and will give their kids a lot of happiness. When I asked by one of my neighboors if I would take my child to the circus and I said no because of the way I felt they treated the animals. I was given a 20 minute lecture on how I should put my childs happiness first above my my north american views of what was right and worng and that I was a bad parent for not letting my child enjoy the circus.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Mahatma Gandhi
Is the circus from Mexico?
Mahatma is not a North American

I had a similar conversation with a neighbour once. She was Somalian and was planning to have her young daughters circumcised. She explained very strongly that we, in the west, don't care about our children enough or put their needs before our own because we oppose female circumcision.

There are all sorts of things that human beings justify in the name of cultural difference. Slavery was one of them.

Sadly, I have seen zoos and circuses not much better than this one in North America (USA) in the past. The concept of being against cruelty is not a Western one, as pointed out by Elbert.

Children in Belize are particularly privileged in respect to seeing wild animals that other people in the world may never see. Belize has a fantastic zoo and amazing wildlife. How many children in the world will ever see a real tapir, or jaguar, a harpy eagle or howler monkey? A country that is making its name as an eco destination has no excuses when it comes to conservation and animal welfare.

Just to add to Elbert's quote, given that Belize is primarily Catholic - Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI said said "Animals too, are God's creatures and even if they do not have the same direct relationship to God that man has, they are still creatures of His will, creatures we must respect as companions in creation." Also, in 1990 Pope John Paul II made a proclamation that all animals have souls.

I was there & everytime I drove by the KIDS seemed very happy after all Circus is for the kids & every KID should see a Circus at least once.

In the UK animal Circuses were banned many years ago. It is only the Russian Human Circuses which exist now.

What horrifies me is that we still have such animal circuses in the world at all. Mexico is one of the top 7 oil producing nations of wealth yet allows such atrocites. Cuba is no better!

As a nation of "Green Culture" we should set an example. What Minister signed the permission for the ciurcus to be here? That is the question Belize has to answer.

I could not believe how sorry the animals were. We have legislation in Belize to seize these unfortunate creatures from their owners, yet no one in power does anything about it!

Of course, most children will enjoy a circus, be excited and happy to see the animals. I guess ignorance is bliss and most kids are too young to comprehend animal cruelty issues. The bottom line is that not only one, but several folks have said these animals are basically abused "sorry looking", etc. meaning not properly fed and cared for. That is what makes it so wrong.

As for me... I have a circus one block from my home at this very moment. I could release the 5 big cats, three camels, six horses and the rest tonight. What would Playa del Carmen do with that? Probably kill them for being on the lose. Maybe I could hide them in my back yard... Or go give them something good too eat. Any Ideas?