Ringling Bros. Battles to Keep Elephants (Fighting animal rights advocates)

The Las Vegas Sun ^ | June 3, 2006 | David Crary , AP

[CedarDave]

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.

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.

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."

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."

[jokar]

you think everyhting ought to be for YOUR entertainment

You don't even know me, how can you even say what I want?
I could be a veterinarian working at a rescue ranch for animals.
SNAP out or it. You're thinking like liberal.

[discostu]

RB teaches kids to be compassionate and respect the animals and they treat them humanely, if their parents bring them to the pre-show and they get lucky with the births the kids will actually get to touch a baby elephant, which kicks the crap out of preserves and DVD for teaching an appreciation of animals. They also do more to breed elephants and introduce them to the wild (it's actually a very small percentage that wind up in the shows) than any other organization on the planet. All the griping the PETA idiots do about RB is based on 40 year-old footage from a Mexican circus, the reality of the modern American circus is very different, most people who've obedience trained their dogs have come closer to abusing animals than RB.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

Thanks for your articulate response.
I will now check this information out further to see if i am wrong about RB.

[Ditter]

I am the last person in the universe to agree with PETA on anything but I have come to hate circuses and zoos. I loved going to zoos as a child and took my kids when they were little but now when I think of wild animals in a 4x4 cage I am sick at heart. Circuses are no better. Wild animal parks where people are in cages (vehicles) and the animals are free to move around are OK.