Reader's Response, "Last Chain on Billie"

Kylie Hegner

Ms. Asuncion

English 9 Honors, Block 6

7 December 2015

Reader’s Response

            I recently read the book, Last Chain on Billie: How One Extraordinary Elephant Escaped the Big Top by Carol Bradley. This book is about how an elephant named Billie was taken away from her mother as a baby and was eventually sold to the Hawthorn Corporation. Here Billie and other elephants performed in the circus and were constantly mistreated and abused by the trainers. The elephants were forced to do tricks unnatural to any elephant. The trainers constantly beat and hurt the elephants and used bullhooks extensively (bullhooks are hooks used on elephants’ thin, sensitive skin to get them to do tricks and hurt the elephants). The elephants never got any free time to exercise or play and were often denied medical care. Billie and many other animals were constantly on trailers driving from town to town performing with very little breaks in between. After not following the USDA’s Animal Welfare Act and for the mistreatment and bad care of the elephants, almost all of the elephants of the Hawthorn Corporation were sent to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee for needy elephants. Here, Billie was finally given the chance to do what she wanted to do. She had to gain trust of the humans and learn that they weren’t going to hurt her. She became very close with a few other elephants and enjoyed playing in the water at the sanctuary. Even though she wasn’t at the circus anymore, she had a chain on her leg that she didn’t let anyone take off. After about five years at the elephant sanctuary, Billie finally allowed the caregivers to take it off. This was an incredible story of Billie’s road to freedom.

            I thought Last Chain on Billie: How One Extraordinary Elephant Escaped the Big Top was an incredible story that showed how terribly animals can be treated in circuses and other places. These poor innocent creatures are taken from their mothers at birth and sometimes don’t even make it very far because being taken away from their mothers is a very traumatic event for being so little (Bradley 48). “Before an elephant could be shipped overseas she had to be led to the nearest port. They relied on a combination of annoyances and enticements and ropes attached to her legs to lure her forward. Many elephants failed to survive. Young, weak, and mourning the loss of their mothers, they collapsed and died along the way” (Bradley 48). Some elephants die while being transported to other countries too, and if they’re lucky enough to make it, they are beaten and abused in their new home (Bradley 49). No animal deserves that in my opinion. How would you like it if you were taken from your home, beaten terribly, forced to perform tricks, and never got any freedom?

            Some important parts of the book that made me realize just how bad elephants are treated were the actual abuse they receive. For instance, in the book it said that an elephant was beaten so bad that it started to cry (Bradley 133). That is so terrible and never should be done. Another thing used that I mentioned earlier to abuse the animals are bullhooks. The bullhooks are used so much and are jabbed in the elephant’s skin in sensitive areas (Bradley 132). This is very painful for the elephants and is used as a reminder to make an elephant do something that it may not even want to do (Bradley 103). Another thing that shows just how bad the animals are treated are their scars and wounds. Elephants were often beat when they didn’t listen or acted up (Bradley 131). “Trainers often rubbed their elephants down with whiskey after a beating. The tissue damage will leave abscesses, bleeding wounds, and skin so damaged it will slough off, sometimes for weeks (Bradley 132). All of these examples from the book showed me how badly these poor creatures are treated even though they never deserved this.

            Another problem brought to my attention in the book, was the medical treatment of animals in circuses and other places. For example, the elephants contracted sicknesses, infections, and other things (Bradley 109). The doctors prescribed how to treat the elephants’ medical needs, but often times the trainers didn’t follow through with it or incorrectly cared for the elephants causing bigger problems (Bradley 115). Sometimes the trainers and the people caring for the elephants waited too long before getting the elephants medical attention causing more medical problems (Bradley 113). Some even forced sick elephants to perform including one elephant who was so sick, he died after the performance (Bradley 210). Elephants are like people, they have medical needs and these medical needs should not be ignored. If you were very sick would you not want to receive medical help?

            In the book, Billie and the other animals never had any freedom to play or exercise and were often on the road traveling (Bradley 116). This is not fair to the elephants who were either over weight since they didn’t get to exercise enough or underweight because they didn’t get fed enough (Bradley 116). The elephants had no freedom.

            Billie also faced another big problem after her rescue. She had a hard time trusting humans. Billie was at the sanctuary for about five years before she allowed someone to take a chain off of her leg from her previous times in the circus (Bradley 253-254). She had many problems due to her poor treatment at the circus. It took her a while to overcome fears and learn how to trust again.

            This book really made me realize how badly some animals are treated in circuses and other places. No animal deserves to be beaten, mistreated, and have no freedom. If you had these problems how would you feel? This book really made me want to do something about the abuse many animals receive everyday. The book, Last Chain on Billie: How One Extraordinary Elephant Escaped the Big Top was an incredible story of how one elephant was able to overcome the problems she faced as a circus elephant and all the problems she encountered after her rescue (Bradley). I thought this was an incredible story that really showed that animals should be treated fairly and kindly, for they have feelings too.