 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Animal advocates protest at circus
By TAMARA LUSH, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- Thirty years ago, Suzanne House dated a circus clown. That was in Minnesota, and back then House didn't pay much attention to the circus acts or the circus animals. Not so these days. On Saturday, House stood outside the Ice Palace, handing out a flier titled "The Slave Trade is Alive and Kicking" and stickers that said "Circuses are no fun for animals." Meanwhile, thousands of smiling children and their parents streamed by, eager to enjoy the 132nd Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. House, 55, is one of about a dozen animal rights activists who gathered to protest the circus Saturday. This year, the activists decided to hand out fliers instead of holding signs and dressing up like circus animals. "We just decided that this year, people didn't want to be accosted," House said. Like many of the activists, she once ate meat. She once wore leather. And she even attended circuses. Lots of them, she said, when she dated the clown. "I think he would find it very unsettling if he knew I was here," said House, of Tampa. But like the other activists, she had an epiphany of sorts. For House, the change came in the winter of 1986, when she received a letter from a group called the Animal Protection Institute, detailing the abuse of dogs in the Philippines. "I thought, "That's it,' " she said. No more meat, chicken or fish, and eventually, no dairy. House has been a vegan, a strict form of vegetarianism, for 10 years. It hasn't been easy in Tampa, a city that loves meat and circuses. "We're not greeted as well as I would like to be," said House. Jackie Schwab, a 33-year-old Tampa resident who was cheerfully handing out fliers, agreed. "We do the best that we can," Schwab said. Schwab, House and the others appear to annoy circus officials. Three circus representatives watched the protesters as they handed out leaflets, and a spokesman later called the St. Petersburg Times to urge the paper to talk to animal trainers to counter the protesters' claims that circuses abuse animals. Circus spokesman Kenneth Feld, in a faxed statement about the animal rights activists, said the circus cares for its animals well, and that animal rights groups will go to "great lengths" to harm the circus. "This is simply wrong," Feld said. "It flies in the face of everything we hold dear as Americans." Many people at Saturday's circus seemed to agree. Many declined the fliers, but others accepted them with a polite thank-you. "Every little bit helps," said Schwab. "Maybe it will touch one person."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
