Elephants at the Big E (Topsfield: closing, live, business)

[IWLC]

The Big E is gearing up for the 2019 run. Along with hundreds of things to see and do will be the elephant rides. I have had long experience being around working elephants, and if everything that's been made public isn't enough to convince you, take it from me - it is archaic, dismal cruelty.


Taking it on face value alone, those elephants walk in circles on burning hot blacktop from opening to closing with ride saddles tightly cinched, surrounded by blaring, amplified sound for 17 days straight. At night they are chained to sleep on the same hard surface they trod all day. This is no life for any animal and why wild animal attractions are illegal in many countries and a growing number of states. Until Massachusetts catches up, please consider not patronizing such archaic attractions.

[matrix5k]

I thought this stuff was outlawed already after the Barnum circus took them out.

[johngolf]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

I thought this stuff was outlawed already after the Barnum circus took them out.

Topsfield Fair had them until 2002 when I left MA.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

I thought this stuff was outlawed already after the Barnum circus took them out.

I've seen it elsewhere. My ex had two kids and we took them to a "fair" at the RI Convention Center a few years ago. There were elephant and camel rides as well as a really awful looking pony ride (the ponies were spread around a circular wheel - lined up butt to mouth - which they were hooked up to and walked in circles like a carnival ride). It was a company called Commerford Zoo that put it on and I believe it's the same one that does the Elephant rides at the Big E. Needless to say, I have no interest in supporting them and I hope that the sentiment is strong enough to make such a practice untenable financially.

[matrix5k]

That sounds terrible. Maybe if a documentary was made like "Blackfish", it would be put to an end.

[IWLC]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

I thought this stuff was outlawed already after the Barnum circus took them out.

That was a single business that voluntarily stopped using elephants. It has become less common as the elephants that were brought into the country in the 70's and early 80's die off. States like California have already banned wild animals in entertainment and it is supposed to be going up for a vote in Mass too. Hopefully it will pass.


This is the poor old girl that Commerfords have been using at the Big E for decades now - old, tired and worn out from her miserable life https://imgur.com/a/ub6qsTg

[GeePee]

https://www.masslive.com/the-big-e/2...-elephant.html

[katzenfreund]

It is a disgrace that elephants and other animals are exploited in that way.... the reason why I will NOT visit the "big E".