From: Cindy Buker
Cc: Mayor Colin Kinsley ; Debora Munoz ; Don Bassermann ; Don Zurowski ; Brian Skakun ; Sherry Sethen ; Shirley Gratton ; Murry Krause ; Shiloh Durkee ; Kathi Travers ; Peter Fricker
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 11:06 AM
Subject: Citizen Front Page Article - Councillor Gives the Thumbs-Up to Circus - Monday, July 17th
Councilor Scott,
Once again I am disappointed that you have misled the average Prince George citizen with your words about the circus. Not once in the Citizen article “Councillor Gives the Thumbs-up to Circus” (July 17th) does it say that this is your personal opinion and unfortunately people are going to believe what you say is indeed fact. Those of us who are actually informed on this subject know this is not true; in fact, it’s very, very far from being true.
The article states “Scott said he inspected the trailers where the elephants were kept and found them to be clean and with a reasonable amount of room.” Reasonable amount of room for what? An elephant to live in 48-50 weeks of the year – I think not. Yet that is what these animals endure year after painful year.
Also stated in the article “and he said it’s in the circus’ own best interest to treat their animals well. “If you make your living handling wild animals or animals of any kind, you’re going to make sure that they’re properly looked after”, he said.” This statement proves you are no expert on this subject, in fact, it shows just how naïve you are regarding the treatment of these animals. Yes, in a perfect world, people who make their living handling animals would treat them well but this isn’t a perfect world. Perhaps you should speak to people such as Kathi Travers and other real experts who know the facts.
It would be appreciated if the next time you do an interview that you included that this is your personal opinion so many of the people who elected you think twice before believing what you say to be the truth. Better yet, leave this work to the people who know what to look for and what to ask.
Cindy Buker
Prince George, BC