Hans Hillewaert / CC by SA 2.5

Two separate attacks on people by angry, frustrated, imprisoned animals over the weekend has this gal wondering: Are zoo prisoners launching a sort of global Attica-style revolt? Let's consider the evidence.

Exhibit A: At Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island, 20-year-old Griffy, a so-called "towering beast" of a giraffe, head-butted a zookeeper, who luckily managed to stagger out of the enclosure to safety. Zoo officials downplayed the attack, calling it a "playful" accident. Really?

And exhibit B: At the Byculla Zoo in Mumbai, a 55-year-old elephant named Laxmi attacked a man who entered the pen that she shares with another elephant, Anarkali, who is 46. Laxmi is old and ailing, and a month ago she was the subject of an urgent appeal by PETA India, which urged that she be removed from the zoo, where she has been chained and beaten. Anarkali, too, has been abused in this zoo, and PETA India wants the two of them moved to a sanctuary. The man was severely injured when he was removed from the enclosure and was declared dead shortly thereafter.

So tell us: Are animals like Griffy, Laxmi, and Tilly—who were meant to roam or swim for miles but are instead imprisoned in tiny pens or pools—simply being "playful" with zookeepers? Is this behavior uncharacteristic? Or are they revolting against their cruel confinement, their loss of freedom, and the fact that they are deprived of a real life?

Written by Karin Bennett

© Star Max Inc.

I got teary again and again watching Jennie Garth's character, Kelly Taylor, grow up on Beverly Hills, 90210—and I got goose bumps when she mamboed on Dancing With the Stars. But when I learned that Jennie asked MomCentral.com to drop its partnership with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, I cheered so loudly that I woke Frank and Tom from their fifth nap of the day. (Sorry, fellas.)

The mother of three was moved to take action after learning about Ringling's abuse of baby elephants, who are snatched away from their wailing, distraught mothers by trainers who slam the babies to the ground, poke and prod them with bullhooks, and give them electric shocks. Asking the site to sever its ties with Ringling, Jennie wrote, "Because Mom Central is a resource that promotes support for all mothers, I implore you to consider the helpless animals who are forced to surrender their children to a lifetime of isolation and pain."

You don't need to have children to be concerned about the dangerous lesson Ringling teaches its audiences—that it's OK to abuse babies who've been stolen from their mothers. I'll be following Jennie's lead and politely asking MomCentral.com to drop Ringling. Will you join me?

Written by Karin Bennett