Greatest Show On Earth

[yogi]

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus arguably was the "Greatest Show On Earth." for many generations. They are calling it quits after a 133 year run. Blame it on the likes of Facebook.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ringling-br ... -its-tent/

[pilvikki]

i'm pretty sure it was the animals that began and ended that show.

last time i went to the circus and saw the elephants, they looked bedraggled and sad. so i said right there that that was the end of my going to the circus. then i read about all the abuse they took, so i started spreading the word as well.

[yogi]

Plus there was not PETA so many years ago.

[pilvikki]

true enough.

when i was younger (like a couple of decades ago), i automatically assumed everyone was kind to animals AND that, basically, most animals are dumb and don't mind being caged up and paraded in front of people for laughs.

[yogi]

Cruelty to animals is kind of a fuzzy thing. I'd never deliberately harm most animals but I have no qualms about assassinating mice or killing spiders and snakes, for example. Things like circuses and zoos are questionable. Do animals have human type feelings and suffer from being caged and made to perform? Dunno about that.

[pilvikki]

oooh, all you have to do is look into their eyes and you'll know! the emotions are right there for anyone to see.

now, if you take a male lion and look at it in its cage... well, it looks perfectly fine in there. but from what i gather, lions are not really that demanding as long as they get their dinners on time. wolves? when i was 16, i saw a deep rut a wolf had walked into its pen from going around and around. gorillas? you look at their faces and it makes you want to cry....

[yogi]

I doubt that animals have the intelligence to feel the same kind of emotions people feel. There are some primitive instincts going on, but what you see in their eyes is more what is in your own mind rather than what they think or feel.

[pilvikki]

i wholeheartedly disagree. what do you see in a snake's eyes? nothing! it's like looking at polished stones. ditto a fish - nothing happening there either. also, if you take my ex...

but i digress.

[yogi]

I think what is seen in animal eyes is simply a reflection of what is on the viewer's mind. It's called anthropomorphism.