Monday, September 14, 2009

To Protesters. Cheers

I don't have many complaints about circus life.
Yes, there is the drama and aggravations that come with any group of people or occupation
But overall it is pretty freakin' sweet.
This life is something I have wanted since I was kid.
Maybe not this 'exactly' this. But I rode my first bull elephant at five days old.
What do you expect?
It is completely different to watch the argument over Animal Rights and animals in captivity from the inside. They attack our world; they attack us.
In any aspect, there is the best, the worst, and everyone else.
Come stand outside my fence for ten minutes and see my cats in the rolling cage.
Stay all day and see them in the yard for hours upon hours doing whatever they please. Sleep, play, argue, drink - that is their time.
Yes they work. So do we. Would they like to lay around and do nothing all day?
Of course. So would you. Someone offers you retirement to lay on the beach in Hawaii
all day and sip margaritas? You won't tell them no.
But this is life. The relaxation comes with labor.
And to be honest, doesn't that make it more gratifying?
I live with my animals. I live with my family and my friends.
We don't have a tv at America's Own. We pass our time in each other's company and caring for our animals. My vacation, or rather few hours off in a day?
I visit a zoo if possible to see how they care for their animals.
This is our life. Our love. Our passion.
Screw you that tells me I am wrong. Screw you that holds a sign but can't tell me what 'I' did wrong. You don't know. You judge me based on someone else's mistake.
They are obviously not in the top ten percent. Neither am I. But don't stereotype me.
That being said, here are a few pictures of those that are ignorant. None of them can tell me why they are against - me, my family, my life - other than quotes on a website about events from 1997.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

good shit mr. easley good shit!
we put our animals through there acts or daily routines to keep there minds stimulated and for more excercise. they enjoy the interaction between humans and animal.

cwdancinfool said...

Casey - My friend and I were over there today to get our tickets for tomorrow evening's show and were looking at the animals when a woman came over and took some pictures of them. We were commenting on how well cared for the animals are and how content they seem. The elephants were picking and eating grass, loose in a pen, and a handler came out to clean up. He moved easily between them and they moved away from him when he asked them to. No chains, no hooks, just a broom. The ponies were even playing in the pen next to them. We chatted with the woman about how healthy and well cared for the animals were. She said she was an inspector for the county, but we have our doubts about that. My friend and I went around and saw your beautiful cats in your "backyard". You have a very nice setup. Also saw the guitar in one of the chairs. Didn't see anyone outside, so we didn't stop to say hello, but we will be there tomorrow night. Looking forward to the show.
Jeannie

Ben Trumble said...

Damn, now I've got to piss people off. Radar, you're right. You care for some beautiful cats that have never been abused -- and the vast majority of sign carrying animal liberationists are idiots who don't know what they're talking about. But not all of them are idiots and some know too well what they're talking about. (You haven't been to northern California yet.) Much of the crap that has rained down on us in the last decade id because of trainers, grooms, and shows that didn't do the right thing. The big difference between zoos and circuses is still transparency. In the zoo world you don't get a job just because of who you're related to. (Not any more at least.) That's a big deal because bad habits aren't passed down to the same extent that they have sometimes been passed down in the circus business. There's simply more accountability. At the risk of sounding like Wade (and Wade is right about this) the lack of standards and accountability when it comes to circus animals is the very reason why activists have ammunition. And as much as we'd like to, we can't just dismiss them as wack jobs.

Ryan Easley said...

Well spoken Ben and thanks for the comment. I was not dismissing them as a whole, but rather speaking for our tigers and my own experiences. There are too many damning videos out there for anyone to deny what has happened or what can happen, but it is no different than sterotyping the church for pedophilia or Germans for the Holocaust. It happened, but not everyone played a part in it. Casey has told me numerous times the public can watch us practice, because there is nothing to hide in our training and he can explain exactly why he does what he does. That is what the circus needs to gain credibility and respect as a whole.

GaryHill said...

Radar, hopefully Casey and you can keep up the good presentation that y'all do, but like Ben and Wade have said, it is hard to clean up what others have made such a mess of.

Wade G. Burck said...

Gary,
The hardest part is getting folks to see/understand the "why". You can't imagine the vile, venom, poison, hate directed at initially. The vindicator is when it proves it's self out. It give's you hope it may fix it's self. It may not be what it was, but it will be what it is for today and tomorrow's generation. That make's the hit's more then worthwhile.
Wade Burck

GaryHill said...

Oh Wade I am very well aware of how they are. Every city we played had someone come out to the tents in the parking lots where the lions and tigers were and shoot their mouths off about how all the animals are so mistreated. Explaining how hard we work to prove them wrong worked on some but not all.

Blog Archive