Last year, readers of The Bulletin were presented with a moral challenge through letters and opinion pieces to the editor opposing and supporting animal trapping for fun and profit. Which side to support? That challenge continues to stand and will remain until this kind of trapping is brought to its overdue end. (For more information on this topic visit www.trapfreeoregon.com.) Now the circus is coming to town, and readers will again be presented with another moral challenge whether they know it or not.

There are two types of circuses: those with animal performers and those without. The problem with the former is not only that the animals perform unnatural tricks but how they are trained to do them. There may be exceptions with some animals (dogs, for instance) where positive reinforcement works, but reports by reliable sources indicate that inflicting pain is preferred by circuses on other species (elephants and big cats) to get them to do what the trainer wants.

Contrary to the prevailing, thoughtless conception, animals are not dumb. They feel pain and remember who inflicted the pain — in the case of elephants, apparently for a long time. For examples of this behavior search the Internet for “Jason Hribal elephants and the circus.” It is clear from the stories that Hribal relates in his essay that it is not a good idea to get on the wrong side of an elephant — literally and figuratively. Some, after an elephant had enough and decided to retaliate, have been crushed against a wall or stomped by a massive foot. In the case of big cats, consider what happened at San Francisco Zoo on Christmas Day, 2007. A Siberian tiger was reportedly tormented by three young men. She jumped the 12-foot wall of her enclosure and quickly killed one of them. She pursued and attacked the other two before she was shot and killed. The tiger’s passing by dozens of innocent visitors to get to the guilty suggests to a number of observers a level of intelligence not normally credited to wild animals.

When it comes to training elephants, Ringling Bros. has developed a comparatively new method by abducting baby elephants from their mothers at a few months of age instead of after the natural weaning period of six to eight years. The cries emitted by both mother and baby at this separation are comparable to what would happen with humans. Then the hell begins for the baby with its being tethered for hours on end and “trained” with the use of bullhooks and electric shocks. (Photos, not for sensitive people, are at www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/bound-babies.asp)

Pat Derby, co-founder of the Performing Animal Welfare Society, said of transporting circus animals: The constant traveling, up to 50 weeks a year, is also detrimental to the mental and physical well-being of circus animals. Elephants are transported from one city to the next in railroad cars or truck semi-trailers. Trips can last from a few hours to several days.

So, the question now is — to support or not support the circus? If you decide to ignore the moral aspects of visiting the circus coming to Deschutes County, hopefully you’ll enjoy the show. Some of the animals have gone through hellish experiences for years just to give you a couple shoddy hours of amusement, and it would be a shame if that pain and suffering were in vain.

As mentioned above, there are circuses that don’t use animals to entertain their audiences, represented most spectacularly by Cirque du Soleil. Their shows may be more expensive, but most people find them much more entertaining. And you can watch them with a clear conscience.

Better still, spend your discretionary money at a local enterprise instead of giving it to some out-of-state corporation.