Ringling Bros. circus to close after 146 years

That's a shame. Circus animals are actually healthier than zoo animals that stand around in little cages getting no exercise.

I worry about all those poor people who now not only have to find a new job but a new home too.

Sorry, I may be one of the few, but I'm glad to hear the animals will no longer be used. I don't see it as a need to close the circus, they needed to go with the times and put on a show that the public wants to see. They can use acrobats, special affects, and animals that enjoy pleasing by performing. The lions, tigers and elephants are not those animals! They do not belong there. If it takes closing the circus to free them I'm all for it.

I am right there with you Ana!!

Glad I'm not alone, Winfrey!

And I'm with Ana and Winfrey - I've always thought it was nothing short of obscene to make animals like lions, tigers and elephants "perform" just to please humans. I'm glad to see it go away. I just hope the poor animals which have been exploited will be given proper retirement habitats.

I have a clown phobia. Not too unhappy to see the closure, except it's been around forever! Didn't they just appoint a NEW Ringmaster? The first woman and it was all over the news. Now they are closing? Seems like the old regime knew something was in the wind. Hate animal acts (except trained dogs). Also hate high wire acts that don't use safety nets. Scare me to death.

Sorta, if you have a clown phobia, then pray for me this Thursday. I have to work on a computer for someone who collects these creepy things and keeps the collection in her computer room!

I went to the circus one time when I was a teenager (not sure if it was Ringling Bros or some other) and can't remember much about it. I won't comment on the animal issue because I don't know what/how the animals feel about it or where they would be better off. Too me, this is sad because it is just another sign of the times, closing after 146 years.

Ha! I'm thinking about you Draclvr. "Killer clown eats computer tech. Film at 11."

Actually my phobia isn't about pictures or figures of clowns, just the LIVE ones. Hate them for some reason. I remember when I was about 10, we went to a fair and there was a clown doing an act and HE chose ME out of the crowd to join him in the 'ring'. I was petrified! Didn't find him funny and cried all the way home. Dunno why. Nothing bad happened to me with the clown. I also hate 'slapstick' humor like the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, where they slap, hit or hurt each other. Not funny at all to me.

I hated them when my school was taken to see the Ringling Bros. circus when I was little. I hate them live, photographs or dolls. This room has photos and dolls everywhere. I'm always turning around to make sure one isn't sneaking up behind me with a knife!

Those performing animals are better off than animals in zoos that get no exercise. Circus animals are healthier and live longer. Are some circus animals abused, yest. But that a minority, not the norm. These peoples gave circus a bad reputation they don't deserve just as a few rogue cops make the majority of police officers who are honest men and women lives harder.

Healthy bodies does not necessarily mean healthy minds... Zoos were also horrible in the past. Most of the good ones are now models of enrichment habitats and dedicated to preservation of several species.

I've come to accept that life is all about change...and wonder quite often now, what "change" was like for my parents and grand parents -- whoa!

I always think of my grandparents who were born in the late 1800's. They went from horse-drawn buggies and farm equipment to watching a man walk on the moon!