Gavin G. & Milan Q.

Topic: Animal abuse at circuses

I woke up to the beautiful trees, the perfect breeze, and the shining sun. Today couldn't be any better because it was my birthday. I walked downstairs to the smell of oatmeal and the sight of presents on the table. Both of my parents were already awake, and they greeted me with a warming hug. After I had breakfast and opened all my gifts, we went to pick up my friend. It was a long car ride to the circus, but even that was a good thing because we got to play on my new Nintendo Switch even longer!

At the circus, it smelled like buttered popcorn. It was crowded, but I didn't care. I loved this place. Almost as soon as we got there, we both had the same idea: the snack bar. One of my presents was fifty bucks to spend at the snack bar. My friend and I kept eating and eating until we got stuffed. I started to feel nauseated. I told my parents we were going to the bathroom, but my friend and I actually went behind the circus tent and let it all out. When we were finished vomiting, we started to head back, and what we saw was practically traumatizing. We saw a guy beating a horse that had just come from the show. My friend and I looked at each other for a second and then glanced back. We yelled at the man to stop and quickly ran towards the animal. The man dropped the whip, and we unstrapped the horse. The animal was free, but it looked like it didn't know what to do, and at that point neither did we. Until finally, the animal ran away.

***

I woke up in a hot sweaty trailer and I could barely breathe, but that's what I'm used to. I've heard of animals dying of dehydration in here, and honestly, I'm surprised I haven't yet. We used to think that getting picked to be in the circus was the highest honor. We would become famous and do amazing things. But it’s all an illusion. None of that is true. I HATE this life. I'm constantly being physically punished with hooks and whips, carried from place to place in these horrible trailers, and I haven't seen my family in years. One mistake causes me so much pain. I wish I could escape, but I have a show to do, and I have no other choice.

The show today was hard, and at one point there was a man standing while I was running. Then, I fell. The crowd went quiet but quickly got louder as the man said he was OK. I was ushered out of the tent into the back.

I was strapped down, and I was ready for the punishment. This time it hurt more than ever, because this time was different: this time I was thinking of my family. This time I was thinking of my old life. This time, this was the last I could take... but then there was shouting. The whipping stopped and my straps were removed. I assumed that I was going to be put in another cage, but that was it. There was nothing. No hands grabbing me, no straps, no cage. I thought I was dead. Then I realized that I wasn't dead. There was still the noise of the leaving crowd and the smell of old popcorn. I wasn't dead, I was free.

I didn't know what to do, so I ran and I ran. There was shouting and screaming, but I didn't care. I kept running. It wasn't long until I realized that it didn't matter how fast I ran. This was the end for me. There wasn't anything I could do; they were going to kill me. So I ran home. I ran to where I was raised because that is where I wanted to die. I smelled the familiar smell of home, the flowers and grass, and the big oak tree off in the distance. So I sat and cried. Then the sound of sirens, and that was it.

Diego D., Gabe F., Avery M., & Jalen V.

Topic: Animal abuse at circuses

Imagine you were taken from your family and were kept in a cage traveling from place to place doing trick after trick. Well, my name is Thomas the elephant, and I was twenty months old when I was roped on all four legs and dragged away from my family. When I was getting dragged away I was very scared because I didn’t know what was happening, and I was getting taken away from the wild. I was crying for my family, they put me in a cage, then I cried myself to sleep. Then I woke up in the cage, and they were bringing me to this very big place.

Two months of training passed, and I was put in my first show, and I was forced to do uncomfortable practices and exercises and tricks for others’ entertainment. Like they would make me flip over on my head and make me balance. They would whip me if I made a mistake, and they would use bullhooks to make me behave. I had to do that for two months. Before I knew it, twenty years had passed.

***

I’m twenty-two years old now, and the tasks have only been getting worse, and they only feed me peanuts. As days pass, I start having short memories of my family. Like my mom was nice and sweet, my dad was kinda strict, but he was my dad, so I cared about him, and my siblings were very active, and they always wanted to play. I just want to spend time with them, I think, even if it’s the last time I get to see them. I don’t even know if my family is alive.

I realize I need to leave. I need to get of out of here. I’m getting sick of this. I’m traveling too much. I don’t even know where I am right now. I’m in a cage with no room. I can only turn around. I’m at a circus. I’m in a show. The show’s going to start soon. I get on the stage, and I’m getting ridden on. We’re dancing, doing tricks: tigers jumping through hoops and lions riding horses, bears riding bicycles, animals standing on each other. I tripped; the trainers are going to whip me, I think. The show is over; I’m afraid. I get whipped after. Next thing I notice I have been in the circus for fifty-seven years.

***

I'm fifty-nine years old now, and they are going to let me go to the wild. It’s this organization called Lateba. They save circus animals and free them into the wild. I’m too old to do anything at the circus. I'll be retired in an hour. I’m going to be stuck in a cage until I get home.

After 57 years I am free. What is this place? I think. I’m from Africa, and I notice that I’m in Australia, but I also notice that there are elephants around me, but I am still devastated  because I can’t see my family. That trip made me thirsty though, so I look for water. I’m exhausted, walking and walking, sweat dripping down my face, but eventually I find water after many hours. There are no other elephants around the water. I wonder why. Well, more water for me, I think. I start drinking the water. I see something in the water, but I don’t care; it's probably just a fish. The water looks just like the water from the circus: it has dirt in it, but I am used to that. I continue drinking. Then something comes up out of the water and starts biting my trunk and I get dragged in the water. He traps me under! I am dead. I have been eaten by a crocodile.

***

Imagine you were taken from your family and were kept in a cage traveling from place to place doing trick after trick. Well, my name was Thomas the elephant, and I was twenty months old when I was roped on all four legs and dragged away from my family.