As you are aware, Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus will be at Clemson University today. I will not be there and neither will my family.

Ghandi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.”

That being said, Ringling Bros has failed to meet minimal federal standards for the care of animals they use in their exhibitions. They recently paid $20,000 to settle USDA charges of failing to provide veterinary care to a dying baby elephant. There are four open investigations into Ringling for the death of a 2-year-old lion that is believed to have died from heat stroke, the death of an 8-month-old baby elephant and the abuse of an elephant that was videotaped being savagely hit and jabbed with a bullhook. At least 25 elephants have died in their “care” since 1992.

To me, this is not entertainment. Would the public still be willing to pay to see them if their torture of the animals were in the open and not hidden? I think not. Please join my family as we boycott this horrible abuse that some call entertainment.

There is no place in a civilized society for what they do.

Susan Bennett, Anderson