Animal rights advocates make big fuss over the big top
February 7, 2010
Attendees seeking the classic Americana of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Jan. 28-31 at the Leon County Civic Center were met by animal welfare advocates warning them of the mistreatment of circus animals.
For an hour before each show, the protesters stood on the steps of the Civic Center, holding signs with vivid warnings such as “the circus is hell for animals.” Fliers were handed out that read “Boycott animal circuses. You choose—they can’t.” Though the protesters, organized by the Tallahassee chapter of the animal rights group Saving Animals Via Education, may have been new to Tallahassee, Ringling is used to seeing these protests.
Animal Rights activists protested the Barnum & Bailey Circus on the steps of the Leon County Civic Center last week.
“We see this every week, but we stand by our animal care,” said Ringling Production Manager Jason Gibson. “We have millions of people who come and see us every show each and every year and see how beautiful and healthy and vibrant our animals are.”
Animal welfare advocates assert that circus animals are subject to chained confinement, psychological trauma, objectionable training methods and the use of ankuses. Also known as goads, bullhooks or guides, ankuses are instruments used by elephant handlers that resemble fire pokers.
The protesters targeted adults, encouraging them to choose animal-free entertainment, but many attendees said the main reason behind their ticket purchase was to give their children the classic circus experience.
In contrast with this Americana, Laura Leja, a practice manager at a Tallahassee veterinary clinic, held signs along with her nine and 10-year-old son and daughter, who insisted on coming to protest. She viewed the circus-goers’ nostalgia as their justification for purchasing tickets.
“They don’t want to not let their children have the circus experience, even though they know the animals are not treated fairly, but they’re torn,” said Leja. “They don’t want to give up the cotton candy, and the jugglers, and the acrobats, along with the animal acts that they grew up with, and not let their children have that experience just once.”
Most attendees who acknowledged the mistreatment of circus animals felt that it was not as significant a concern as the protesters claimed.
“Actually, the animal rights, they do have some legitimate arguments against the animal abuses,” said circus attendee and FSU graduate student Brian Clawson. “However, Ringling Brothers is also one of the leading supporters of elephant conservation and they actually run an elephant habitat down in Sarasota, Florida. So, right, there are abuses that do occur, but they also help support organizations that protect animals.”
Ringling’s 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk County, Fla. is where pictures recently acquired by PETA were taken. Animal welfare advocates point to the photos as evidence of Ringling’s inhumane training practices, including the premature separation of baby elephants from their mothers.
Gibson maintained that Ringling trains its animals using positive reinforcement.
Protestors hoped to discourage spectators from attending what they called the "saddest show on earth."
“When you’re working on an act, you’re looking at their natural abilities. One elephant maybe likes to sit up, so you work that into an act. If he doesn’t want to do it at that time, then you ignore that behavior, and then when they do the behavior that you want, you give them a treat, and you give them praise. And our elephants love loaves of bread. That’s their treat when they’re training, and they love it,” said Gibson.
He denied Ringling handlers use of ankuses to inflict pain.
“It’s actually a guide. So it’s kind of like a leash, because you can’t really have a leash on an eight thousand pound elephant. They don’t make leashes that big. It’s a guide to guide them from each and everywhere that they need to go. That’s all it is,” said Gibson.
The use of such instruments was recently banned in St. Lucy County, Fla. anticipating the proposed National Elephant Center.
Leja cited the footage obtained by PETA’s recent undercover investigation as the force behind her and others’ indignation.
“If they would see the video footage that I saw and the pictures that I saw, it would be a totally different story because most of the people have that compassion if they saw these poor elephants being beaten in the head, just standing there doing nothing, waiting to go in, and getting beaten in the head with these horrible hooks,” said Leja.
The American Veterinary Medical Association approves of the use of ankuses for elephant husbandry, but condemns their use “to puncture, lacerate, strike or inflict harm upon an elephant.”
Despite claims by Gibson that ankuses are only used in manners approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the protesters’ cries did have an affect.
Connie Tessmer, who attended a nearby fitness festival, voiced her support for the protests.
“I totally agree with them. I don’t go to circuses anymore because I think that they are torture,” said Tessmer. “I think they are cruel.”
Donald Thomas was a circus-goer who expressed his consideration of the issue.
“Well, it’s worth investigating,” said Thomas. “I mean, we shouldn’t ignore them. It’s not good. It’s not good. I mean, what message are we sending? It’s sort of barbaric, if it’s true.”
But is it true? Gibson felt that truth was being distorted.
“The truth is right there, that it doesn’t make any sense not to take care of the animals,” said Gibson. “We’re all about taking care of our animals. We’ve had animals with Ringling Brothers Circus for 140 years. So we’re pretty good at taking care of our animals. In fact, we have a vet-tech that’s on staff, we have a twenty-four hour on-call vet in every town we go to. Every month we have inspections. Our vets come out and take care of the animals, and just inspect all the animals, make sure they’re in the utmost health.”
Ringling has never been adjudged in violation of the Animal Welfare Act. It has, however, received multiple warnings for noncompliance by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Spencer Hopkins, who is an FSU alumnus and vegan, has been protesting circuses for about four years.
“It’s usually about the same every year: the same amount of people who are shocked by it, the same amount of people who are disgusted at us, and then the amount of people that say they won’t come back next year,” said Hopkins.
Photos by Oliva Pulver, Staff Photographer
Tags: Animal Rights, PETA, protests, Tallahassee SAVE
