http://www.elephants.com/media/BradentonHerald_10_21_08.htm

Lawsuit Alleges Elephant Abuse

Original Article

BradentonHerald.Com
October 21, 2008
By NATALIE NEYSA ALUND

Benjamin, a 4-year-old Asian Ringling Bros. elephant, was swimming in a pond in 1999 when his trainer instructed him to get out of the water.

When he disobeyed, the trainer came at him with a bull hook — a club with a sharp metal point at the end — and the young elephant had a heart attack and died.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture investigator determined the use of the bull hook “precipitated in the physical harm and ultimate death” of Benjamin, said Tracy Silverman, general counsel for the Animal Welfare Institute. The institute is one of four nonprofit national animal rights groups that in 2000 sued Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus , whose former winter quarters were in Sarasota.

The suit, also filed by The Fund for Animals, of Maryland; the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, of Washington; The Animal Protection Institute of Sacramento; and Tom Rider, a former Ringling Bros. employee, claims the defendants inhumanely and illegally mistreat their Asian elephants and have done so for decades.

On Monday, Federal Court Judge Emmet Sullivan will begin hearing testimony in the case. The anticipated three-week, non-jury trial takes place in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

According to the complaint, the defendants routinely beat elephants, violating the 1973 Endangered Species Act by hitting them with bull hooks. It also contends they forcibly remove baby elephants from their mothers with ropes and chains before they are weaned.

“Most people don’t realize an elephant’s skin is very sensitive, especially behind the ears where trainers are usually striking them,” Silverman said. “The elephants will bleed and we have evidence.”

“These unlawful actions are done on a routine basis, throughout the country, for the purpose of making the elephants perform in the circus and otherwise commercially exploiting these magnificent animals,” according to the suit, filed by the D.C. firm of Myer, Glitzenstein and Crystal on behalf of the non-profit animal rights groups.

Defense attorneys contend the suit is part of a long-running crusade to eliminate animals from circuses, zoos and wildlife parks.

“Feld Entertainment will show during this trial that its elephants are healthy, alert and thriving, and it intends to debunk the misinformation that has been spread by those who do not own or know how to care for an elephant,” said Michelle Pardo of Fulbright & Jaworksi L.L.P, representing Feld Entertainment.

At trial, plaintiffs plan to prove that within the past six years, three other young elephants have died as a result of mistreatment, Silverman said.

Kenny, age 3, died in January 1998 after being forced to perform in three shows when extremely ill, the plaintiffs maintain.

Riccardo, 8 months old, died in August 2004 when he was euthanized after climbing on a 19-inch round platform and breaking his two hind legs, according to the suit.

Infant Birtha died shortly after her birth at the Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida last year, the suit alleges.

“We’re really all involved in this lawsuit to protect these elephants from the abuse and harm they are currently enduring,” said Silverman.

“We’re not seeking to do away with the circus. We’re not even necessarily seeking that the elephants be out of the circus. We simply want Ringling Brothers to treat their animals humanely.”

Rider, the former Ringling Bros. barn man who filed suit, is expected to testify at trial.

From June 1997 through November 1999, Rider said that he spent time with the elephants, tending the barns where they were kept.

Rider said he saw elephants beaten with bull hooks several times a week.

“I want nothing more than for them to be safe and free from harm,” Rider said.

But Pardo contends when Rider was employed by Ringling Bros. he never raised any concern about the treatment of animals to his employer.

”During his employment, federal and state authorities inspected the animals 35 times and found no evidence of mistreatment,” she said. “Ringling Brothers elephants are healthy and cared for by a full-time team of veterinarians. In every city they are inspected and have never been found in violation of the Animal Welfare Act, a federal law that regulates the treatment of animals in circuses and zoos.”

Bill Woodcock, a former elephant trainer who worked with Ringling in the 1970s and 1990s, said bull hooks are simply used to steer elephants.

“I wouldn’t call them inhumane at all,” said Woodcock. “The bottom line is elephants … were our source of income and part of the family. No one with any intelligence at all is going to damage or harm their source of income or part of their family.”

Jenny Wallenda Anderson, a Ringling Bros. performer who participated in elephant acts from 1947 to 1951, laughed when she learned of the suit Monday.

“When I was on the show, they treated elephants very good and there were always vets around to make sure the animals were cared for,” said Anderson, 81, who lives in Sarasota with a host of other retired Ringling performers.

Circus Elephant Abuse Trial Delayed

October 28, 2008

The trial of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, the legendary US circus which is accused of mistreating elephants, has been delayed, possibly for several months, a spokeswoman for the plaintiffs said.

The trial was due to begin Monday before a federal court in Washington, eight years after a Ringling Bros. employee, backed by four animal welfare organizations, brought a case against the circus for the mistreatment of Asian elephants under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The lawsuit alleges that a number of practices by Ringling Bros, billed as "The Greatest Show on Earth," violate the ESA.

These included the "forceful use of bull hooks to control, train and discipline the elephants and the chaining of the elephants for most of the day and night," the Animal Welfare Institute, one of the groups involved in the case, says on its website.

The trial was put back after the circus presented 19 new witnesses.

"It's highly disappointing that the case has been postponed. Hopefully, we'll be even better prepared" when the case comes to trial, possibly at the beginning of next year, said Tracy Silverman, general counsel for the Animal Welfare Institute.

In a statement issued last week, Michelle Pardo, a representative of the law firm defending Feld Entertainment, the circus' parent company, accused the animal rights groups of "distorting the facts by making false allegations."

Pardo said the case was "part of a long-running crusade to eliminate animals from circuses, zoos and wildlife parks."