A Message from the Elephants About the Fight Against Animal Abuse
Hi, my name is Marie. I’m a 45 year old elephant and I’m here to discuss a serious topic about animal cruelty and abuse. My elephant BFF, Shelly, and I live and work together… kind of like a ‘Laverne & Shirley’, ‘2 Broke Girls’ relationship, but way cooler and not just because we’re elephants! We have a really sweet job where we get to travel and perform with one of the best circuses on the planet. Off season, we chill with our friends and the Zerbini family at our Two Tails Ranch elephant sanctuary in Florida. You can check it out here and even come to visit us there!
Anyway, Shelly and I wanted to get a message out there about something that really saddens us, and we sure hope to change with your awareness - animal cruelty and abuse. We just don’t get it.
We’ve been with the circus for enough years to pick up on the human vibe, and we have such a hard time comprehending how people can be cruel and abusive to animals when all we’ve experienced is love, joy, compassion and kindness. Well, Shelly and I can recall that one doofus years ago who called us ‘big fat slugs’, but he only left frowns in his wake because he didn’t love himself enough to be nice to anyone at all.
What we’re trying to say here is that we all, animal and human, share this beautiful planet together and we would all benefit greatly by taking care of it and each other. Besides, there’s a much better feeling to kindness than there is to cruelty, and compassion generates a lot more good energy than abuse ever could. It just makes sense to be kind.
Shelly and I are surrounded by love and kindness every day, which is probably why we’re both in such good health. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, we’re treated to lots of fresh fruits and veggies, we eat good nutritious meals, and we drink well over 50 gallons of water a day. Every 6 weeks Shelly and I get full manicures, and our pretty trainer, Erika Zerbini, fills us in on what’s going on in the human world because we can’t read the gossip mags or newspapers. Seriously though, we enjoy performing and all that goes along with preparing for our shows.
Most people don’t ever get to see elephants in real life, especially in the cities we visit, and we hope our act generates some human awareness for animals all over the world - Animal cruelty and abuse is wrong and it really benefits no one at all. Have you heard of a thing called karma?! What goes around comes around. So please stand with us and our Shrine Circus family in the fight against animal abuse and cruelty. With love and compassion in all our hearts together we can bring an end to this horrible and needless brutality towards animals throughout the world.
Shelly and I strive to promote love and happiness, and we hope that shines through in our performances. How often in a year do you think you could see elephants in Markham, Rexdale, Caledon, Welland, Ancaster, Mississauga, Kingston and Ajax? Well those are the cities Shelly and I will be visiting with the Shrine Circus during the 2016 season, and we’d love it if you and your family came out to see our elephant act. Click for show dates and tickets.
We all need to experience more fun and joy in our lives, which is why Shelly and I so enjoy performing with the Shrine Circus. We’re fortunate to be loved, well cared for and have fun every day. Even though we’re elephants, we still like to horse around together, which is why it saddens us so much that other elephants and animals in the world are hurt, harmed and even killed for truly needless reasons. Please help the fight against animal cruelty. So when it’s our turn to step into the ring of Canada’s largest big top circus, we do it with pride and we represent all animals everywhere. Be kind to us all and be good to each other. Thank you for reading our message.
Much love & big smiles, Marie & Shelly.