Pokwang vows never to let baby Malia watch animals in circus

Comedian Pokwang took a break from making funny social media posts to share why she wouldn’t let her daughter Malia O’Brian watch animal circus acts. 

Pokwang and baby Malia  (Image: Instagram/@leeobrian)

On Monday, Dec. 3, she posted a picture of an elephant’s wounded legs in chains.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq5fwsUljfg/

“Pangako ko sa sarili ko at kay [Malia] hinding hindi ko sya hahayaang mapanood ang mga ganitong animal show or circus!” she said in the caption. Malia, who turns 1 in January 2019, is Pokwang’s child with partner Lee O’Brian.

(I promised to myself and to Malia that I would never let her watch animal shows or circuses like this!)

“Hindi natin dapat sinusuportahan ang kahit na anong animal shows (We shouldn’t support animal shows)!”

“Minsan mas asal hayop pa tayong mga taong naturingan (Sometimes us people act like animals),” she wrote. 

Other celebrities, particularly Karla Estrada and Angel Locsin, concurred with Pokwang’s stand.

“Ako din simula’t sapol wala akong interes dyan sa mga animal shows na yan (Me too, I have never had any interest in those animal shows),” said Estrada. 

“Kakasad ‘di ba momshie (It’s saddening isn’t it),” replied Pokwang.

Locsin had an idea on how to deal with trainers abusing animals for entertainment. “Itali rin kaya natin yung trainer nya maiba lang #notocaptivity,” she suggested. (Let’s tie up the trainer for a change.)

“True at gutumin tapos hagupitin!” Pokwang added. “Ano kaya mararamdaman nila ano?”

(True, then starve them and whip them! I wonder what they would feel?)

Image: Screengrab via Instagram/@itspokwang27

Animal rights groups have long opposed the exploitation of animals in circuses. According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), elephants are torn from their mothers when they are young and are chained in cages year-round, with a lack of basic needs given to them. Animals in circuses are trained through beating, electric shocks and whips, according to the PETA Asia website.

All this harms them both physically and psychologically since elephants are social animals—in the wild, females and the young roam in herds.

With pressure from animal groups and dwindling public support, America’s best-known circus–the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus–shut down in 2017. It retired its performing elephants in 2015 after viral videos from PETA showed a handler hitting elephants with a pointed stick.  /ra

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