Dear Editor,
We recently saw elephants used by a traveling circus, and we cannot unsee it. We are asking the Safford community and Graham County to take a hard look at what is being allowed as entertainment.
Viola and Isa stood for hours beside a truck, swaying back and forth in distress. Not playing. Not thriving. Suffering. This repetitive motion is widely recognized as a sign of psychological trauma in elephants, a direct result of confinement, deprivation, and stress.
These elephants were taken from their mothers as babies. Elephants form lifelong family bonds, and that bond was violently broken. What followed was not care, but control. They are forced into submission through fear and pain so they can be used for human entertainment.
They were not given the freedom to walk, forage, or interact as elephants are meant to do. Instead, they stood in one place for most of the day, ignored except when it was time to perform. They were deprived of adequate water, given only small amounts at limited times, and forced to drink quickly before it was taken away. Movement was restricted. Their lives are reduced to waiting and enduring.
There is visible pain in Viola and Isa, who have endured decades of abuse. Their bodies are worn, their spirits diminished, yet they are still forced to perform.
When showtime comes, the public sees a performance. What they do not see is the abuse behind it. Elephants in circuses are controlled with bullhooks, tools designed to inflict pain and enforce submission. They are struck, prodded, and intimidated into performing unnatural tricks and giving rides. Elephants are not meant to carry people on their backs or perform for crowds. Their bodies and minds are not built for this kind of exploitation.
These elephants are owned by Carson and Barnes, a supplier with a long record of federal Animal Welfare Act violations, over 100 documented citations involving inadequate care, unsafe handling, and failure to meet basic standards. Jordan World Circus continues to profit from this system.
And this is what we are allowing into communities like Safford.
Other places have already said no. They have recognized that this kind of exploitation has no place in modern society, especially not as family entertainment. We teach our children compassion, yet events like this normalize domination, suffering, and control of some of the most intelligent and emotionally complex animals on Earth.
Safford and Graham County have a choice. We can look away, or we can decide that this is not who we are.
Because once you see it, the swaying, the stillness, the silence, you realize this is not entertainment. It is abuse.
Sincerely,
Chris and Kristi Blair – Scottsdale
