Circus entertainment 3

I have heard so much about the cruelty to circus animals, and to elephants in particular. It's hard to discern between what is real and what is put out there by groups such as PETA, real or false. Every once in a while you'll hear about an elephant going berserk and rampaging through a town, perhaps an attempt at freedom. I can't help but feel sorry for them. With proper care, and observation, such as they get at zoos, it would probably be much more acceptable. A personal story: when I was a kid, a circus pulled into town. During the day I walked over to the circus with my friend Richard. We took a shortcut through an alley. As we came out of the other end of the alley, there was an elephant tied up with a chain around one leg, the chain was connected to a large iron ring that was in the ground. We heard the elephant screaming real loud and as we came out of the alley we saw a group of boys tormenting the elephant with a large pole, and staying just out of reach. Without thinking I ran between the elephant and the boys, trying to chase them away. All of a sudden something grabbed me around the waist tightly, I looked down and grabbed it and it was the elephants trunk! He squeezed me hard and I really thought that damned elephant was going to sqeeze me to death, suddenly he lifted me up and threw me about twenty feet, right over that group of boys. I couldn't believe it. I landed hard right on my rear end. I just sat there with a stupid expession, staring at the elephant. My buddy Richard walked up to me laughing, when the elephant shot a big, green snot at my friend's chest, about the size of a basketball, it splattered all over him. That elephant did that on purpose, I could almost see him laughing. Now how many people can say they've been tossed about twenty feet by an elephant. True story!