county fair and stopping the use of bull hooks on elephants

Last weekend we went to the country fair. Every year we plan to go, but we never do, but this year we decided we had to do it and we are so glad we did. It's a huge fair, we spent the entire day there. There were so much to do; shows, comedy, magic, music, food, animals, games, and rides.

As much as as I love fairs I have a hard time seeing animals when I am there. I went and saw the cows and the sheep and I was happy to see loving children and adults care for them.

But was disgusted when I saw elephant and camel ride. Adults and children had to pay a few dollars to ride them. That's all they did all day was walk in circles carrying people. They looked tired, sad, and their bodies didn't look healthy or strong. There were two men, and one of them carried a bull hook. You might have seen these wood sticks with a sharp hook at the end.

These are used to "tame" and "train" the elephant. Elephants shouldn't be trained or tamed, they should be roaming free, and not used to carry children around for a dollar. It made me sick watching him being abused.

As much as I had fun at the fair, I was upset by this. I almost made a scene, but instead I have been doing some research and I am in the process of contacting the town fair and making sure that they do not support this act and do not have them at the fair going forward. Let's see how that goes.

On a lighter note, we saw The Flying Wallendas, a family of stunt performers who are known to perform high wire acts without any safety nets.

We are going to another near by fair just to see them again. They are amazing. What I find so fascinating about them is not only their amazing talent, but their willing to continue their family legacy of performing such dangerous acts. I was in awe of the performance, but I was saddened by the crowd. There wasn't many people watching them and those that were watching them didn't seem as excited or impressed as much as I was. Is everyone seeing the same show as I am?

I respect and admire them greatly. They have a documentary that I plan on watching so I hope to learn more about their history and what keeps them doing this.

Have you seen this family perform at a local fair? If so, what are your thoughts?