Imagine if you had to walk to work every day while suffering from a debilitating medical condition that caused your joints to ache and your feet to throb. At work, you'd be kept on your feet constantly and forced to perform physical labor for long shifts. You'd be given no chance to recuperate (much less retire), and when you slowed down or balked, your boss would hit you with something resembling a fireplace poker or would stick the pointy end of the instrument under your chin and drag you around. When you weren't working, you would live in chains and wouldn't be given any medication for pain.
That's pretty much what life is like for Karen, Nicole, and Sara—three elephants who are shunted from town to town by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Recently, independent exotic-animal veterinarians and a retired elephant manager, with nearly 100 years of combined experience, observed the elephants while the circus was in Charlotte. According to their official reports, all three elephants are suffering from lameness—a painful condition that can be made worse by the awkward contortions required to perform circus tricks and by a meager "life" on the road. Nicole and Karen also suffer from arthritis, and Sara, who is only 10 years old, is well on her way to developing the disease. Ringling has ignored all recommendations that Nicole be excluded from performing certain routines, and now she is in such poor physical condition that experts insist that keeping her on the road constitutes "unnecessary cruelty."
Elephants are meant to move about, roaming for miles over grass and soft terrain and engaging in activities that come naturally to them. These hurting girls are not meant to stand on urine- and feces-covered cement for hours on end or to be beaten and forced by Ringling to perform harmful, unnatural tricks that strain their aching muscles and joints.
Please take a minute of your time to help spare Karen, Nicole, and Sara from additional suffering by politely urging Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack to stop folding to pressure from Ringling and to immediately seize these ailing elephants before it's too late—foot disorders and arthritis are the leading reasons for euthanasia in captive elephants.
Using animals in circuses is an unnecessary and inhumane
practice that's harmful to both the animals and the public. Unlike
the human performers who choose to work in circuses, exotic animals
are forced to take part in the show. They are involuntary actors
in a degrading, unnatural spectacle.
While many people associate the circus with "safe, wholesome,
family fun" — an association promoted aggressively by
the circus PR machine — the truth is much darker. Government
inspection reports reveal ongoing mistreatment of animals in circuses,
as well as failures to provide the basic minimal standards of care
required by law. Animals used in circuses have been injured and
killed, and have injured and killed humans.
Circuses that exploit animals make lofty claims about their "educational" value
and their contributions to "conservation." But the real
message that these circuses send to children is that it's acceptable
to abuse animals for amusement and profit.
And the conservation claims made by many circuses are merely veiled
attempts to justify the exploitation of animals for commercial
gain. Endangered animals born in circus "conservation" programs
have never been released into the wild — they are doomed,
instead, to life in captivity.
Born Free USA united with API's circus campaign aims to end the
exploitation of "performing" animals by educating both
the public and key decision-makers about how animals suffer under
the big top, and by pushing for legislation and policy changes
that help stop circus cruelty. We are also involved in groundbreaking
litigation against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
for its mistreatment of elephants.
In
addition to two open USDA investigations into Sterling
and Reid, the circus often uses sub-contractors with
histories of negligent animal care and serious public
safety concerns. Publicized news reports and government
inspections reveal:
a
400 pound bear falls from a moving truck on a Louisiana
interstate on 4/2/00;
a
tiger escapes and leaves a performance area unattended;
dangerous
animals are left unattended in public areas;
exotic
cats forced to live in cages so small the animals are
prevented from standing erect;
animals
fed improper diets leading to chronic malnutrition
and subsequent health problems;
lack
of veterinary care plan;
animal
handler loses control of animals and handles them abusively;
inexperienced
and unqualified handlers and trainers working with
animals;
sub-contractor
Brian Franzen surrenders 8 emaciated and dehydrated
ponies to California law enforcement in 1998 and pleads
guilty to two counts of animal abuse/neglect. In 1999,
Franzen animals were still being transported on a Sterling
and Reid truck;
in
1999 Sterling and Reid relinquish exotic cats to the
Oakland Zoo and a sanctuary when they learn the USDA
has launched a cruelty investigation;
Sterling
and Reid Circus is charged with fraudulent advertising
in Oregon in 1999;
in
St. Louis at a March 2,000 show, a horse bolts from
the ring during a performance, hits a wall and falls
down before being led back into the ring to continue
performing.
