BKTA Circus: Be Kind to Animals Circus

When fires ripped across the west not one newscaster from one station mentioned the loss of millions of wild animals, of rabbits and mice and elk and deer, and owls and eagle's perches, of bats and bugs and snails and mink and weasels and all kinds of little birds which nest in trees. Rents throughout the west have gone up 400% in the past few years. If you don't program computers or build aps, you can forget finding a place. A group of mostly young, but not all, people decide to start a non-profit whose mission it is to remind people of our need to protect and look out for not just domestic creatures, but wild animals and places as well. The vehicle they choose to spread their message is a caravan of cars pulled by trailers of all kinds, some with sinks and kitchens and toilets and some old-fashioned, and some modern. "Gas is cheaper than rent," says one of their bumper sticker. This group of like-minded people go up and down the west coast putting on a be nice to animals Circus. A circus without monkeys or giraffe, or elephants, or tigers, those animals are all endangered and are best left in their own environment. No, there are a few dogs who travel with the circus. And a pair of Alpaca show up for one show. And there's a trailer full of cats and a beautiful, complicated, multi-ethnic group of characters pitching in and doing their part. There's a love story, and a story of a positive, forward-looking, proactive people taking measures to fight back against apathy and sloth. Environmentalists of all stripes will enjoy this read, as will anyone who loves animals, the book was written for you, for all of us, to remind ourselves that it's not too late. It's close, but it's not over until it's over.