Dear editor,

I am writing in response to your article titled “CWSF board to take hard look at tiger exhibit.”

I’m glad that the Central Wisconsin State Fair board is reevaluating its decision to have tigers at this year’s fair, and I hope it will decide to cancel the show. The director’s fear that a tiger-less fair will lead to demands to exclude cows and pigs at future fairs is a bit absurd. State and county fairs are meant to feature and promote agricultural activities. Livestock, including cows and pigs, are part of Wisconsin’s agricultural heritage; wild animals such as tigers are not.

The board will always have the prerogative to decide what exhibits to feature at the fair. There are so many reasons to take a pass on the tiger show and doing so will not undermine the board’s authority to dismiss unreasonable demands to do away with cows and pigs, should ever they arise.

Respectfully,

Margaret Webster

La Crosse, WI

Dear editor,

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in the hullabaloo over the fair’s upcoming tiger show is safety. If the board members can’t see that trucking massive predators to a chaotic fair and caging them inside a tent is miserable for the animals, then they should consider what will happen if one of the tigers gets loose or simply rebels against its unnatural living conditions.

Dangerous incidents are all too common in traveling shows that use wild animals. Some people may remember the national news coverage that resulted when a tiger at a Florida fair knocked down the trainer and dragged the woman across the cage while she screamed for help. A crowd of school children looked on in horror while the tiger was beaten in order to stop the attack. Just the thought of witnessing a scenario like that is enough to keep me away from the fair.

Shari Weber
Oconomowoc, WI