ELEPHANTS' PROGRESS: SLOW BUT SURE

While American cities drag their heels and cling to the archaic "tradition" of animal exploitation as entertainment, performing elephants are disappearing from more enlightened metropolitan climes:

"Even though there are probably more circuses in Britain than ever before, only eight still tour with animals and Bobby Roberts' Circus is the only one left that has an elephant." Whether that elelphant, 'Anne,' gets "pensioned off" as she deserves or not, it's stunning - and encouraging - that a tradition-steeped country such as England has only one remaining circus elephant. And:

"The state government has banned domesticated elephants from India's largest city, saying that forcing the beasts to walk the city's chaotic, crowded and polluted streets was an act of cruelty." The ban was issued after a campaign charging that elephants "are not properly fed, and suffer skin and foot ailments from being forced to walk on scorching hot, potholed city roads for long hours. When not working, the elephants were chained to posts and unable to move with most living under busy overpasses." A rough life, sure, but at least they didn't have to listen to that annoying calliope music every day.