Traveling Animal Shows
Take Good Care Of Their Business
by
Sam Staffen
My first 3 seasons in the carnival
industry were spent as an attendant of a side show. I worked
The Midget Horse and The Giant Horse and was directly
involved with The Giant Pig, The Giant Alligator, and The
Giant Steer. It was actually quite enjoyable and very very
interesting.
One of the main obstacles, shall I say, was the National
Humane Society. They have some employees and alleged
representatives that have some very differing opinions of
the side shows and the regular operation of one. Some like
the side shows and some obviously hate them.
The ones who hate them and think that it is abusive to
animals are the most entertaining by far. Their complaints
range from flat out weird to actually somewhat agreeable.
But no matter what, they are very entertaining and animated
in the opinions.
In Xenia, Ohio I was working the Giant Horse stand and had
an encounter that I still laugh about today. Heck! I'm
actually snickering as I write this article. This lady comes
up and introduces herself as a member of the National Humane
Society and then states that she can get in free for
observation. I knew she was trouble right away. No shame to
her game for sure.
Needless to say I charged her the 50 cents entry stating the
Humane Society didn't own any life time membership to this
stand. She payed very much begrudgingly. She then informs me
that the horse had no water in the stall with him. She then
notes that he didn't have grain either. She was appreciative
that the horse had hay and actually complimented me on that.
I told her that if she were to visit the 4-H horse barn she
would realize that those horses didn't normally have water
and grain in their stalls either. She left somewhat unhappy
with my rebuttal.
A little while later she comes back, and with 50 cents out.
I turned down the fee and said that I knew who she was and
remembered that she already had paid that day. It doesn't
normally matter if they already paid that day but she was a
member of the Humane Society and their members do receive
special privileges. She goes in, and as she does, I asked if
she had been to the 4-H horse barns. She said yes. I then
had to prod her for the obvious answer, did you notice that
they didn't have any water or grain either. She said yes and
immediately started to go off on me.
She told me that it was cruelty to animals to have these
animals penned up all day for the means of making a buck.
She said a few other things as well. That is when I decided
to let her have a little more, shall we say, informative
information. I asked her if she noticed the scars on the
horses behind(there were very visible white marks). She said
that she did notice them. I asked her if she noticed that he
was a gelding, which he was. She actually looked, as if
being an actual equine expert, then said yes very
hesitantly. I then told her that the scars were from the
horse pullers who had previously owned him. They are from
electric prods for making him put a little more effort into
pulling for competitive purposes. I then informed her that
my boss had purchased this horse from the pullers because he
was no longer able to pull enough weight for competitions,
and obviously his size. I then said that because he was
gelded that he can't reproduce any more offspring. Then I
stated that because of the scars on his behind that he could
no longer be used in halter-type show classes.
I asked her if she owned any animals. She replied three dogs
and cat. I then summed up all of this information about the
Giant Horse for this fine female representative of the
National Humane Society. I told her that if it were not for
him being as large as he was, since he couldn't breed or
pull or show, that he would probably be in her dogs food
right now. Then, of course, I asked her, do you still think
this is abuse, as I began to laugh out loud, in her face.
She told me we'll see who gets the last laugh as she was
walking away hastily. I replied that when it comes to me and
her, I would always have the last laugh, because I would
laugh until she was plum out of sight. I haven't seen that
lady since.
The true fact of the matter is that the animals, definitely
in this side show owners stands, are very well taken care
of. Not even to mention the fact that he is only out for 4
and 1/2 months or so each year. The rest of the year the
animals are freely running amok in their pastures or their
pens. They also have to get regular veterinary checks to
cross the state lines. I mean, come on, do you think a guy
or gal making a living off of an animal would actually not
take good care of that animal. It is, after all, his or her
lively hood.
I actually taught my 3 different horses I watched, how to
graze themselves throughout the season. I would let them
loose and see if they would let me catch them. If they
didn't I would chase them until they were caught and then
immediately put them back in the show barn, or trailer, as
in the midget horses case. A few brief interruptions of
their free time, that they knew they had coming, and they
had no problem allowing me to walk up and grab whenever I
wanted for whatever purpose I wanted. Since I taught all
three to graze themselves, I would actually doze off
sometimes waiting for them to want to go back to their
shows. The horse would actually wake me up to take him in
every time I dozed off, without fail. Much less abuse them.
A person can tell if an animal is being abused if they take
a good look. It isn't hard. And if you ever dealt with
animal lovers, you know they will keep someone in check when
they do see abuse. If they love dogs the most, every rotten
dog owner in their sights hears from them. I was actually
told on two occasions that my horse was colicing, by paying
customers. Some customers, not knowing the possible harm,
will feed the horses candy apples (even though a sign
clearly states do not feed or touch) and it causes them to
colic. Colic is when a horse has gas. A horse has to walk or
run off the gas. Because they don't throw up they have to
poop it out. A horse can't do that while tied up in a stall.
I had to close my stand, take the horse out of the stand,
for all to see for free, and walk him until he pooped. We
didn't even abuse them when it obviously cost my boss money.
You will find out that a very large portion of the animals
traveling around with carnivals are well kept. The ponies in
the pony rides, the tigers and lions in the circus type
acts, the elephants and lamas and other animals in the
petting zoos, and the many other types of animals for the
many other types of fair or festival or rodeo exhibits are
all well fed, groomed, cleaned up after, and have regular
vet check-ups for the purpose of not spreading disease, in
order to go across every single state line. They are
actually kept up with better than the average animal of
their species.
Why?
Because without them, the owners aren't
making the dollar.
I created the web site
http://UScarnys.com
Only
been in existence since February the 4th and already
boasts possible the best free fair and festival listing
on the internet. I haven't seen a better more
comprehensive free listing than my own product. There
are 48 pages of fairs and festivals at my site. There is
also another 5 pages filled with many more relevant
things directly associated with the carnival or
amusement industry. Stop by and see and you'll have to
agree.
