PITA Member Wrote:
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> J Mann Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > PITA got their wishes and killed the circus.
> Now
> > they are going after the zoos. If no one is
> > exposed to elephants then how can they
> appreciate
> > them enough to to protect them in the future?
> I
> > wonder who will be paying for the elephant
> > retirement place that Ringling Brothers was
> paying
> > for? I doubt that PITA will pay so it will
> > probably end up being the US taxpayers.
>
> As a member of PITA (Pennsylvanians Interested in
> Trains & Animals), I have yet to see any evidence
> that there is a sudden groundswell of political
> pressure on African and Indian wildlife officials
> to protect elephants in their native habitats
> every time there is a circus performance. I also
> have yet to see any evidence of circus
> performances causing a surge of donations to
> organizations, such as the World Wildlife
> Federation, seeking to protect elephants.
>
> While nothing beats seeing a large (or for that
> matter, any-sized) animal in person, I reject the
> implication that the only way to generate public
> interest in elephants or other fauna is through
> circuses. Plenty of wildlife
> conservation/protection initiatives are undertaken
> for animals not in circuses such as manatees,
> whales, Monarch butterflies and California
> condors.
>
> I may have gone to a circus once or twice as a kid
> and I generally avoid zoos. But I did make a
> contribution to the World Wildlife Federation last
> year. Additionally, one of the reasons I am a
> member of the Sierra Club and joined the National
> Parks Conservation Association is to help protect
> wildlife habitats in the United States.
>
> I don't know what's going to happen to the
> elephants used in the circuses, but yes US tax
> dollars currently help to protect and conserve
> many other kinds of animals in the National Parks.
> And I'm fine with that.

Liberal!