Leave it to PETA to ruin a good party. According to
The Press-Enterprise, the traveling Ramos Bros. Circus this week was forced to move from its spot in Corona due to complaints from the animal rights activists. They argued that the show was violating a city municipal code that only allowed exotic animals in the city if they were used to educate or kept in a zoo. Wait, what? Corona doesn’t even have a zoo (closest one is in Orange County) and the circus is incredibly educational. How else will kids learn how petrifying clowns are or that these animals even exist outside picture books? Nevertheless, the big top relocated the zebras and camels to Perris until July 2, when they’ll be moving to Riverside. My advice? Drop them off at PETA’s doorstep for a while. If they think the animals are in danger (and with 24-hour care at the circus, they really aren’t), they can see how they like being responsible for a change.
Does Joe Martone live in a cave? There are countless criminal charges made against circuses for their mistreatment of animals. Even if one doesn’t take into account the outright cruelity circus animals are subjected to (beaten and whipped, denied food and water to “encourage” animals to learn tricks that are completely unnatural to them), the day-to-day cruelity of living lives (for example, traveling town to town in terrible conditions) completely against their nature should make anyone realize that wild animals don’t belong in circuses. Mr. Martone may mock PETA, but he should realize there is no educational value in seeing wild animals perform unnatural behaviors. All living creatures should be treated with respect.
And just for Mr. Martone, I’ve cut and pasted my information from PETA regarding the Ramos Bros. circus: The circus knew it was violating not only the city ordinance but also a condition of its permit that explicitly prohibited the use of exotic animals. This would not be the first time that the circus violated licensing laws hoping that it wouldn’t be caught. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently cited the circus for operating without obtaining a required federal license and has accused two of the Ramos brothers of knowingly violating licensing requirements, failing to comply with the agency’s orders, and lying to inspectors. The USDA has also cited the circus for other animal welfare violations. Numerous complaints to PETA from the public indicate that Ramos Bros. regularly abuses animals, including tying them up so tightly that they cannot stand, forcing them to live in urine- and feces-filled enclosures, and failing to provide them with water.