Actor
and author Robbyne Kaamil, whose great-great-grandmother was a slave on a North
Carolina plantation, draws parallels between UniverSoul Circus and human slavery
that are too hard to ignore.
Animals held in captivity at UniverSoul
Circus are a part of a modern-day slave trade that has resulted in a
billion-dollar industry built entirely on suffering and enslavement. Slavery at
UniverSoul Circus involves confining elephants, big cats, and other animals and
forcing them to perform confusing and unnatural tricks through fear of
punishment.
UniverSoul elephant handlers use bullhooks—weapons that
resemble a fireplace poker with a sharp steel hook on one end—in order to force
the elephants into submission. These devices are so cruel that they have been
banned from a number of cities, including Los Angeles and Richmond, Virginia,
because of the pain they inflict on elephants.
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