Elephants
Victory For Endangered ElephantsAs Court Rules Against Ringling Bros. Circus United States Court of Appeals dismisses previous court's ruling that plaintiffs lack standing WASHINGTON (February 5, 2003) - The U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision that dismissed a case on procedural grounds charging Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus with violating the Endangered Species Act. The ruling clears the way for the case brought by a former Ringling Brother's employee, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), and The Fund for Animals to present their case that Ringling Brothers routinely beats its elephants with bull hooks to perform. The decision by the court which grants the plaintiffs standing was based strongly upon the statements of former Ringling Bros. elephant trainer and co-plaintiff in the case, Tom Rider, who while employed by Ringling Brothers, witnessed routine beatings of the circus elephants with bull hooks. Consequently the United States Court of Appeals unanimously found that Tom Rider suffers "aesthetic and emotional injury" from seeing the elephants perform in the circus. The court found that Rider developed "a strong, personal attachment to these animals" while working with the elephants at Ringling Bros. for two years. Rider left Ringling Bros. because of the mistreatment of the elephants. "The ASPCA is extremely pleased with the court's decision which allows us to pursue this case. We believe we will successfully prove that Ringling Bros. engages in ongoing abuse of the elephants during the separation process of babies from their mothers, and in the training of elephants to perform" stated Lisa Weisberg, senior vice president of Government Affairs and Public Policy at the ASPCA. "We think that the public deserves to know the truth about what goes on under the 'Big Top'" continues Michael Markarian, President for The Fund for Animals. Cathy Liss, President for the Animal Welfare Institute concludes, "Elephants including babies have suffered greatly at the hands of Ringling Brothers, our lawsuit simply seeks to stop the torture." The groups are represented in the case by the public interest law firm of Meyer & Glitzenstein. Ms. Katherine Meyer argued the case for the appellants. A copy of the court's order is available by visiting http://fund.org/uploads/RinglingOpinion.pdf. Contact: Lisa Weisburg, ASPCA (212) 876-7700 ext. 4552 Elephants aren't amused by circus treatment Thursday, April 5, 2001From Environmental News Network The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has started its spring and summer performance season in New York City and Washington, D.C., amidst charges from animal welfare organizations that the elephants in the "greatest show on earth" are routinely abused. The country's oldest animal welfare organization, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as well as the Fund for Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute are warning the public about the brutality that circus staff inflict on performing elephants. A lawsuit brought by the groups now pending in federal district court in Washington, D.C., alleges that that to "train" and "control" its elephants, the circus handlers routinely keep the three- to five-ton animals in chains for as long as 20 hours a day and regularly beat them with bullhooks, clubs with sharp metal hooks on the ends. The groups, joined by a former Ringling Bros. elephant worker, have sued Ringling Bros. under the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits the harming of any animal that is listed as "endangered." Ringling Bros. uses endangered Asian elephants in its circus. Ringling Bros. keeps more than 65 Asian elephants ranging in age from 1 to 58 years. Twenty-five of them travel with the circus. The rest are kept at a breeding and retirement center in central Florida. In support of its case, the organizations presented sworn accounts by former Ringling Bros. employees. They point to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report that Ringling Bros. causes "physical harm" to its baby elephants and recent video footage of Ringling Bros. employees hitting elephants. For its part, Ringling Bros. maintains that the relationship between its performing animals and humans "is built on mutual respect, trust and affection." "Ringling Bros. does not tolerate the abuse or mistreatment of any animal," the circus says on its Web site. But the animal welfare groups point to a recent USDA investigation which found that Ringling Bros. inflicted "large visible lesions" on baby elephants at its "conservation center" in Florida, when it forcibly separated the less than 2-year-old babies from their mothers during what Ringling Bros. employees refer to as the routine separation process. After consulting an independent panel of elephant experts in May 1999, USDA officials informed Feld Entertainment, Ringling's parent company, that this treatment of the babies caused them "trauma and physical harm" and was completely "unnecessary."This male Asian elephant calf was born at the Ringling Bros. 'conservation center' in Florida. In the wild, baby elephants learn social and survival skills from their mothers and are not weaned until they are about 4 years old. Females stay with their mothers their entire lives. Ringling Bros. says, "Our training methods are based on positive reinforcement in the form of food rewards and words of praise. Verbal or physical abuse and the withholding of food or water are strictly prohibited, and drugs or sedatives are not administered unless prescribed by our Ringling Bros. veterinarian for medical reasons." Under the federal Animal Welfare Act, the USDA conducts unannounced inspections of the circus and the animal compound, and Ringling Bros. is proud of its record of animal care. "In the 30 years of current ownership, Ringling Bros. has never been found in violation of the Animal Welfare Act in regard to abuse, neglect or mistreatment of its animals. In fact, in all aspects of animal care and safety, Ringling Bros. meets "all federal animal welfare standards," the circus says. But in 1998, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service charged Ringling Bros. with violations of federal law after one of its elephants died following a performance in Jacksonville, Florida. Ron DeHaven, acting deputy administrator for animal care, found that, "Ringling Bros. twice failed to handle a juvenile Asian elephant named Kenny as expeditiously and carefully as possible in a manner that did not cause behavioral stress and unnecessary discomfort. After determining the elephant was ill and needed to be examined by a veterinarian, Ringling Bros. still had the elephant perform." Under a settlement agreement in that case, Ringling Bros. neither admitted nor denied any violations of the Animal Welfare Act but agreed to donate $10,000 to a nonprofit elephant sanctuary and $10,000 to an outside organization for research relating to gastrointestinal and infectious diseases of elephants. In another case last month, Ringling Bros. and the Performing Animal Welfare Society reached an out-of-court settlement after the society alleged that Ringling Bros. operatives spied on the California group's wild animal sanctuary and stole sanctuary documents in an effort to discredit the organization. The agreement provides for the circus to donate "a number" of its retired Asian elephants to the society during the next three years and pay for a lifetime of food and veterinary care for them. "People go to the circus because they love animals," said Nancy Blaney, director of government affairs for ASPCA, "not realizing that they are unwittingly perpetuating the abuse this circus inflicts on elephants. As long as people continue to buy tickets, Ringling will continue to torment elephants."Copyright 2001, Environmental News Network |