Reader comments
Utah has long enjoyed 'Greatest Show on Earth'

clowns | 12:01 a.m. July 6, 2009

clowns are some of the scariest creatures ever conjured up by the imagination of mankind. i don't care how many of them get out of that tiny car, they still freak me out. and i find the animal tricks a bit sketchy. how many times did they get whipped until they got it in their skulls how to perform their act?

i will give credit to the acrobats and other daredevils. major props to you folks.

hooray the circus is here!

jloveland | 8:05 a.m. July 6, 2009

"Shear" audacity? Is that a really daring haircut?

freaky | 8:12 a.m. July 6, 2009

I'll agree with that. Clowns are not funny.

Comments continue below

observing | 9:00 a.m. July 6, 2009

It's 2009 - when will this type of cheap "entertainment" cease? These gatherings are dirty and low-class. The animals are usually old and look like they aren't being fed very well. I feel sorry for anyone who has to pursue this form of employment; it doesn't seem very uplifting to me. I must add that I feel the same way about rodeos. How much dirt and animal sweat does it take in one century (going on two) until we advance beyond this mentality? And don't tell me that any of these people are highly skilled. They've learned how NOT to work and that's no skill.

Anonymous | 10:23 a.m. July 6, 2009

i love the circus! cant wait till sept for the circus

Nan | 11:24 a.m. July 6, 2009

Ringling Bros. indeed brings the Greatest Show on Earth every year to Utah! Our family can't wait. We always love going to the see all the animals before the show and can't believe how well cared for they are. Last year we talked with some of their care takers and you could tell the love they have for each of them. Family tradition means so much to us, and the circus arriving each September is just that, a tradition I hope my children, grand children and great grand children will carry on.

sadtradition | 3:27 p.m. July 6, 2009

I am sorry to read how mislead the public is regarding animals in circuses. Of course "trainers" want those paying customers to think all are "well cared for". But the truth is, these animals suffer greatly. How could an elephant, who needs to move up to 50 miles per day, forage for its own food, maintain complex social relations with other elephants, possibly thrive or be "well cared for" in a circus environment with constant traveling by truck and/or train, cruel handling with an ankus, chained captivity and limited space, and constant exploitation of its intelligence and grace? People just don't "see" the animals at the circus. They see entertainment and sad tradition. Have mercy for the elephants. They suffer so very much. Boycott the circus and tell them that a life of training and tricks and captivity and exploitation is no "well cared for" life for animals. Can you "see" the animals?

Jason | 3:58 p.m. July 6, 2009

If you ask me, Utah has always been a 3 ring circus. Who needs elephants, tigers and whatnot's??? We have always had real live moneys running around here in this town.

Tamra | 11:47 a.m. July 20, 2009

Don't you ever notice the bullhook that is ALWAYS in the trainer's hand(s) at all times when around the elephants?? Sometimes they have it slightly hidden. The bullhook they use for training is larger than the one the public sees.

Nan, your children and grand children will be one day ashamed of you that you did not research this topic and instead blindly kept taking them to one of the most horrific and trashiest displays of animal abuse under the guise of human entertainment.

Ken Feld testified during the trial that they do indeed strike the elephants in order to get them to perform. But then again, it wouldn't take much common sense to realize that in the first place.

THINK ABOUT IT.

Greatest Show on Earth | 1:14 p.m. July 31, 2009

Got to be the Gays of '47 Parade

MosesStone1980 | 10:21 a.m. Sept. 24, 2009

What a great show. WHo cares how the animals are treated? Human entertainment is more important than such trivial considerations.

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