Circus elephants help clean up Joplin

Instead of taking the day off, circus performers and their trained elephants decided to pitch in and help the town of Joplin, Mo. clean up the devastation caused by a massive tornado.

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News & Politics

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• cbsepisode
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• circus
• elephants
• joplin
• mo
• missouri
• tornado
• twister
• devistation
• damage
• death
• toll
• town
• city
• clean
• up
• rubble
• debris

[gigobait]

Fucking idiots....That elephant can pull a fucking train. Good job circus people

[GGeisha1]

Hats off to the circus! Good for all of you... including the elephants! Love to leave it at that, but can't bite my tongue for the whiners in that piece - I'm sure search & rescue/cadaver dogs are in Joplin now - did you complain that those dogs are being exploited too? Elephants are incredibly intelligent, highly socialized creatures - they probably had a very good sense that they were helping, & were happy to do so. Help was needed, and help was given. Sit down, be quiet & be grateful.

[veggiewarriors]

@snakes3425

(Contd')

I never doubted the elephants helped the people of Joplin tremendously.

I am only saying that the captives paid with their lives, their dignity and their freedom for that operation, which is unethical and inexcusable in a rich, technologically advanced country like America.

If the people of Joplin feel truly indebted to the elephants, they more than any other group, need to fight for the freedom of elephants from captivity.

[veggiewarriors]

@snakes3425

I see u've drank the Kool-aid about the conservation myth zoos propagate for profit.

1) Captivity kills socially complex animals (esp. elephants/big cats/orcas) at a faster rate than the problems these animals face in the wild

2) Captivity WASTES millions of dollars on keeping a handful of species caged when that money would SAVE THOUSANDS of WILD species if it were donated to a protected national park in the third world.

[snakes3425]

@veggiewarriors

How many people owe their lives to animals that are trained for search and rescue? Had the Elephants not pitched in those roads would've been blocked much longer then they were to aid and equpment. I hate the fact that animals have to be kept in cages at zoos and circuses but I also remember that many of these animals are facing extinction, given the choice I would rather see them in Zoos where they have a chance and some protection

[veggiewarriors]

@snakes3425

That doesn't change the fact elephants don't belong in circuses and that a developed country needs to come up with animal free alternatives in disaster management.

[snakes3425]

@veggiewarriors

Were you in Joplin when that Tornado hit? The entire city was torn apart the usual heavy equipment couldn't reach all the areas. The Elephants were at least able to help, and the people of Joplin are probably thankful the Elephants were there

[hunta99]

wtf. I hope these elephant trainers die a terrible death.

[veggiewarriors]

@rebelnomo

That's coz you're not a circus elephant.

[rebelnomo]

@veggiewarriors I don't man, here at my work it's like play time alot.

[veggiewarriors]

@rebelnomo

Firstly, if it's work, you can't call it "play time".

Animals love to work huh? How come you don't hear of an elephant in the savannah or the Asian forest abandoning his herd, knocking on a human being's door, begging to have a chain tied around his feet and carry logs around the city?

You're an idiot.

And FYI, there's no such thing as a domesticated elephant. What you see is a captive WILD elephant.

[veggiewarriors]

@SadisticSerpentWoman

The elephant's spirit has been broken in brutal and unnatural training exercises for the circus at a young age, so he will be too scared or too depressed to even imagine the possibility of doing something "goofy"

It's easy for you to talk this way because you are not the one tied up in chains when you're not "working" and made to perform like some wound up toy monkey on someone else's terms.