This is a repost from my wonderful friend Cheryl Semcer's Facebook page. Cheryl is a friend I came to know through our mutual love of Africa. She's very involved in protesting circuses and doing a great job of raising awareness about the cruelty and exploitation of circus animals. After reading about Sarah and seeing the photo, I have tears streaming down my face. But tears alone aren't enough ... we must take action. PLEASE write or call the Secretary of Agriculture and tell him that Sarah belongs in a sanctuary. His contact info is below.
Ed. Note: For more about Sarah's ordeal, read Sarah, Ringling Elephant, Collapses.]
FROM Bob Linden, Go Vegan Radio
ACTION
Tell Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to take ALL necessary actions to rescue Sarah from Ringling Bros and send her to an elephant sanctuary.
How much suffering has 54 year old Sarah been forced to endure prior to her crash? How many beatings with bullhooks has she experienced in her 43 years imprisoned by Ringling Brothers, after being captured and taken from the wilds of Asia in 1957? And what is her reward for being a compliant employee of Ringling Brothers since 1968? It's no gold watch for Sarah, no pension plan. It's criminal neglect. Sarah is very sick, yet she is forced to perform.
Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, USDA
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Washington DC 20250
phone (202-720-3631
fax (202) 720-2166
AgSec@usda.gov
INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS
I'm still trembling from witnessing a poor, sick, 54-year old elephant, Sarah, toppling from high atop a narrow railroad-car gangplank, collapsing after crashing to the rocky ground near the tracks.
We must now create a happy ending to Sarah's sad story - with a new beginning for her at a sanctuary. This is also the beginning of the end of Ringling Brothers saddest and cruelest show on earth - because - enough is enough! We can no longer tolerate brutality and torture as entertainment in our cities, we can no longer tolerate the mocking of nature and disrespect of life that the circus represents, nor the lessons it teaches our children - that violence against the weak and innocent is entertaining, that the sad misfortune of others is funny.
The circus is an affront to anyone with a conscience, a heart, a soul, and a brain. It has been banned- for the crime that it is - in communities around California, in cities across the country, and now - banned by countries including Bolivia and Peru, who are obviously more civilized and evolved than places like Los Angeles, Anaheim, Ontario, San Jose, and Oakland, where this immoral spectacle is still inexplicably allowed. But, enough is enough. It is time for morality to prevail over the greed, corruption, and ignorance of city officials.
Sarah...Image by Ameer Sanghvi
Anaheim proved itself incapable of responding to Sarah's tragedy, which was met by incompetence and apathy by police and animal control. Government was apathetic. Ringling Brothers was pathetic. Ringling Brothers brought nothing but tears, screams, shock, and anger to the streets of Anaheim. Enough is enough. There was no veterinary care available for Sarah, and public information was misleading and wrong. Everything about the circus is wrong, and it is wrong to allow it in our communities, so - let's not. No violent terrorists are allowed in our communities anymore.
If the circus is not banned in Anaheim before next year's performances, I'm sitting down on the railroad tracks in protest - in an act of solidarity with the neglected, deprived prisoners aboard, condemned to confinement in their very unnatural habitat of cages and boxcars; prisoners who committed no crime, who have been sentenced to life - in chains - and slavery and involuntary servitude whose wages are beatings and whippings.
Anaheim should know better. A police report in that city last year classified the bullhook as a deadly weapon, this large wooden stick with a sharp metal hook on its end. It is what is used to "train" elephants. So, your community allows the presence of a show wherein participants are "trained" with deadly weapons? It is immoral, inexcusable, shameful, and intolerable. How much suffering has 54 year old Sarah been forced to endure prior to her crash? How many beatings with bullhooks has she experienced in her 43 years imprisoned by Ringling Brothers, after being captured and taken from the wilds of Asia in 1957? And what is her reward for being a compliant employee of Ringling Brothers since 1968? It's no gold watch for Sarah, no pension plan. It's criminal neglect. Sarah is very sick, yet she is forced to perform.
Ringling Brothers has been cited by the US Dept of Agriculture for "animal welfare" violations related to her treatment, or lack thereof. Ringling Brothers doesn't even have the decency to follow the advice of its own senior veterinarian, and Sarah's serious health challenges have gone ignored.
Sarah experiences chronic discharge from her vagina. She has an abnormal fissure, or hole, between her rectum and vagina, creating an environment of susceptibility to chronic life-threatening infections and chronic irritation. It is believed that she has a pus-filled infection of the uterus complicated by a tumor, thought to be benign. Her elevated white blood count has gone unchecked by antibiotics. She is fatigued, stressed, lame, and arthritic, and her fall and collapse - which added visible marks and abrasions to her long list of infirmity - should come as no surprise - especially to Ringling Brothers, who is completely responsible and the cause of her misery.
Enough is enough. It is time that Sarah retire to a sanctuary, and that Ringling Brothers circus be retired for the aberrant human behavior that it is. After the Anaheim incident with Sarah, Animal Defenders International filed a complaint with the USDA, which is the regulatory agency for the circus.
With that being the case, I would now like to help initiate a campaign to FREE SARAH NOW, demanding that US Secretary of Agriculture TOM VILSACK intervene on her behalf immediately. I urge all concerned citizens, animal lovers, animal advocates, animal rights groups, and justice activists to contact Secretary Vilsack in a continuing effort until our demand is met.
If you would like to email me a copy of your letter, I would appreciate it as I would like to highlight public sentiment about this issue on my radio program. My email is Bob@GoVeganRadio.com.
Please, let's FREE SARAH NOW! She deserves it, because she did not deserve the life she's been forced to lead for five decades. May her crash to the ground shatter the chains of Ringling Brothers torture and terrorism. May her new beginning be the beginning of the end of Ringling Brothers - for good!
FREE SARAH NOW!
Bob Linden
FREE SARAH NOW!
Ed. Note: For more about Sarah's ordeal, read Sarah, Ringling Elephant, Collapses.]
FROM Bob Linden, Go Vegan Radio
ACTION
Tell Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to take ALL necessary actions to rescue Sarah from Ringling Bros and send her to an elephant sanctuary.
How much suffering has 54 year old Sarah been forced to endure prior to her crash? How many beatings with bullhooks has she experienced in her 43 years imprisoned by Ringling Brothers, after being captured and taken from the wilds of Asia in 1957? And what is her reward for being a compliant employee of Ringling Brothers since 1968? It's no gold watch for Sarah, no pension plan. It's criminal neglect. Sarah is very sick, yet she is forced to perform.
Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, USDA
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Washington DC 20250
phone (202-720-3631
fax (202) 720-2166
AgSec@usda.gov
INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS
I'm still trembling from witnessing a poor, sick, 54-year old elephant, Sarah, toppling from high atop a narrow railroad-car gangplank, collapsing after crashing to the rocky ground near the tracks.
We must now create a happy ending to Sarah's sad story - with a new beginning for her at a sanctuary. This is also the beginning of the end of Ringling Brothers saddest and cruelest show on earth - because - enough is enough! We can no longer tolerate brutality and torture as entertainment in our cities, we can no longer tolerate the mocking of nature and disrespect of life that the circus represents, nor the lessons it teaches our children - that violence against the weak and innocent is entertaining, that the sad misfortune of others is funny.
The circus is an affront to anyone with a conscience, a heart, a soul, and a brain. It has been banned- for the crime that it is - in communities around California, in cities across the country, and now - banned by countries including Bolivia and Peru, who are obviously more civilized and evolved than places like Los Angeles, Anaheim, Ontario, San Jose, and Oakland, where this immoral spectacle is still inexplicably allowed. But, enough is enough. It is time for morality to prevail over the greed, corruption, and ignorance of city officials.
Sarah...Image by Ameer Sanghvi
If the circus is not banned in Anaheim before next year's performances, I'm sitting down on the railroad tracks in protest - in an act of solidarity with the neglected, deprived prisoners aboard, condemned to confinement in their very unnatural habitat of cages and boxcars; prisoners who committed no crime, who have been sentenced to life - in chains - and slavery and involuntary servitude whose wages are beatings and whippings.
Anaheim should know better. A police report in that city last year classified the bullhook as a deadly weapon, this large wooden stick with a sharp metal hook on its end. It is what is used to "train" elephants. So, your community allows the presence of a show wherein participants are "trained" with deadly weapons? It is immoral, inexcusable, shameful, and intolerable. How much suffering has 54 year old Sarah been forced to endure prior to her crash? How many beatings with bullhooks has she experienced in her 43 years imprisoned by Ringling Brothers, after being captured and taken from the wilds of Asia in 1957? And what is her reward for being a compliant employee of Ringling Brothers since 1968? It's no gold watch for Sarah, no pension plan. It's criminal neglect. Sarah is very sick, yet she is forced to perform.
Ringling Brothers has been cited by the US Dept of Agriculture for "animal welfare" violations related to her treatment, or lack thereof. Ringling Brothers doesn't even have the decency to follow the advice of its own senior veterinarian, and Sarah's serious health challenges have gone ignored.
Sarah experiences chronic discharge from her vagina. She has an abnormal fissure, or hole, between her rectum and vagina, creating an environment of susceptibility to chronic life-threatening infections and chronic irritation. It is believed that she has a pus-filled infection of the uterus complicated by a tumor, thought to be benign. Her elevated white blood count has gone unchecked by antibiotics. She is fatigued, stressed, lame, and arthritic, and her fall and collapse - which added visible marks and abrasions to her long list of infirmity - should come as no surprise - especially to Ringling Brothers, who is completely responsible and the cause of her misery.
Enough is enough. It is time that Sarah retire to a sanctuary, and that Ringling Brothers circus be retired for the aberrant human behavior that it is. After the Anaheim incident with Sarah, Animal Defenders International filed a complaint with the USDA, which is the regulatory agency for the circus.
With that being the case, I would now like to help initiate a campaign to FREE SARAH NOW, demanding that US Secretary of Agriculture TOM VILSACK intervene on her behalf immediately. I urge all concerned citizens, animal lovers, animal advocates, animal rights groups, and justice activists to contact Secretary Vilsack in a continuing effort until our demand is met.
If you would like to email me a copy of your letter, I would appreciate it as I would like to highlight public sentiment about this issue on my radio program. My email is Bob@GoVeganRadio.com.
Please, let's FREE SARAH NOW! She deserves it, because she did not deserve the life she's been forced to lead for five decades. May her crash to the ground shatter the chains of Ringling Brothers torture and terrorism. May her new beginning be the beginning of the end of Ringling Brothers - for good!
FREE SARAH NOW!
Bob Linden
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