Ringling Bros. Battles to Keep Elephants
- From: "tiny dancer" <tinydancer357@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2006 23:43:30 -0400
People should boycott the circus.
Ringling Bros. Battles to Keep Elephants
By DAVID CRARY
NEW YORK (AP) - With their colorful headgear and repertoire of tricks,
they're top-billed stars of The Greatest Show on Earth.
But away from the arena, the Asian elephants used in the Ringling Bros. and
Barnum & Bailey Circus are at the heart of perhaps the most bitter
animal-care fight around, one that's dragged through court for six years
already and is inching toward a trial.
It's a heavyweight bout, pitting America's biggest circus against some of
the most influential animal-welfare groups. Ringling insists that its
elephants receive state-of-the-art treatment and it's determined to keep
them in its cast.
Its adversaries - a group including the Humane Society of the United States,
the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal
Welfare Institute - argue vehemently that circus life is inherently cruel to
the elephants.
They allege that the use of sharpened hooks by trainers, the routine use of
chains, the separation of baby elephants from their mothers and other common
circus practices add up to an egregious violation of the Endangered Species
Act, which covers the Asian elephant and prohibits harm to it. The suit's
goal is a court order halting these practices, which the activists believe
would force Ringling to give up elephants altogether.
``It's impossible to have these animals in captivity the way they are
without it leading to abuse - traveling in chains in boxcars up to 50 weeks,
performing tricks because of force and intimidation,'' said Michelle Thew of
the Animal Protection Institute, another plaintiff.
Ringling shows no signs of bowing to pressure, and has become more outspoken
in defending itself since the first-of-its-kind suit was filed in 2000.
``We train animals through reward, repetition and reinforcement - based on
science,'' said former zookeeper Bruce Read, Ringling's vice president for
animal stewardship. ``Punishment is not used in the circus.''
While the lawsuit protests the use of sharp-ended bullhooks to prod the
elephants, Read defends them as ``a very accepted tool'' developed over many
centuries to control the animals humanely. Activists say the implements -
which resemble long fire pokers - often inflict scar-causing wounds.
Government regulations permit use of chains. Read said elephants are chained
in place at night to keep them from foraging their companions' food, and
during train rides to prevent sudden weight shifts that might derail the
freight car.
More generally, Read said circus life - including 50 weeks a year on the
road - is not stressful to the elephants because the social groups around
them, animal and human, are stable. He said young elephants aren't separated
from their mothers until trainers are confident of their maturity.
``The Asian elephant has been semi-domesticated for centuries,'' said Read,
citing its use in warfare, farming and various ceremonies. ``Our circus
brings them to areas where people don't see such animals very often. That's
not something we should deprive our future generations of.''
The first phase of the lawsuit lasted three years, with Feld Entertainment
Inc. - Ringling's parent company - finally losing a bid to have the case
dismissed by a federal court in Washington, D.C. Since 2003, the two sides
have engaged in a slow-moving battle over the plaintiffs' access to
thousands of Ringling veterinary documents and in-house videos.
``They repeatedly claim that their elephants are healthy and well-treated,
yet when we ask for documents that would prove that, they fight us tooth and
nail in court,'' said attorney Jonathan Lovvorn, the Humane Society's vice
president for animal protection litigation. He expects the case will go to
trial next year.
The lawsuit has coincided with protest campaigns urging a boycott of
circuses that feature animals at a time when others, such as Cirque du
Soleil, have developed animal-free productions. Fifteen U.S. municipalities,
but no major cities, ban animal circuses.
Virginia-based Feld Entertainment is privately held and doesn't disclose
circus revenue figures, thus depriving critics of any evidence that the
protests might be taking a toll.
``Animal rights groups find they get more attention for their cause when
they go after The Greatest Show On Earth,'' said Feld spokeswoman Amy
McWethy. ``But according to our research and customer feedback surveys,
activists have had no impact on the decision to attend.''
She said annual attendance at Ringling's circuses is more than 10 million,
and audience surveys rate elephants as by far the favorite attraction.
Of Ringling's 55 elephants, up to 20 are touring at any one time in the
three circus units. Most of the others live at Ringling's Center for
Elephant Conservation, a $5 million, 200-acre facility in central Florida
that doubles as retirement home and breeding center.
The principal referee in the dispute over Ringling's elephants is the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. Numerous times, agency inspectors have found
Ringling in noncompliance of the Animal Welfare Act, but the circus - to the
dismay of activists - each time was able to take steps that spared it from
being formally classified as a violator.
USDA spokesman Darby Holladay said four investigations into Ringling's
animal care remain open, but he wouldn't provide details. Activists say at
least two of the investigations involve deaths of young elephants at the
Florida conservation center.
Ted Friend, an animal science professor at Texas A&M, said he and his
students have traveled with Ringling for research projects and have never
observed ``overt cruelty'' by trainers or handlers. Friend attributes the
anti-Ringling campaign to competition among animal-welfare groups for
publicity and contributions.
``This isn't about fundraising - it's about getting the truth to the
public,'' retorted Michelle Thew. ``Ringling Bros. is going to lose not only
in court but in the court of public opinion.''
On the Net:
Ringling Bros. http://www.ringling.com/cec
Animal Welfare Institute:
http://www.awionline.org/wildlife/elephants/rbsuit.htm
.
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