Ringling Bros. Circus Coming To Town, Tickets On Sale

After reading the recent Washington Post article (written by an animal trainer for this circus- complete with pictures) on the horrendous physical and emotional abuse perpetrated on the circus animals (especially the elephants) I refuse to attend this event ever again unless significant improvements are made. I encourage those of you contemplating attending the circus to instead, go to the zoo, and/or donate monies to animal charities such as ASPCA, Humane Society or PETA. These circus animals suffer a lifetime of inhumane cruelties simply so we may enjoy an hour or two of entertainment. How sad…

To Lisa S.: I agree that the circus isn’t a great operation and I would never attend one again. But that animal trainer you speak of is Tom Rider, who was bribed with more than $190,000 in payments by the ASPCA, HSUS and other groups to testify in a court case brought against Ringling. The court found that Rider was not credible (i.e., he LIED), and the corruption from the New York-based ASPCA and other groups resulted in the dismissal of the case on Dec. 30, 2009. The court further ruled that the plaintiffs did not sufficiently establish that there was abuse or that Mr. Rider suffered emotional distress. If you are going to donate to a welfare group, do not make your checks out to the corrupt ASPCA, HSUS or PETA, but instead donate to a local shelter that desperately needs funding. The New York-based ASPCA (not a national org.) takes in over $80 million dollars a year. These big organizations are not what you think. Search deeper.

To ASPuhleezCA: The former employee Lisa is talking about is Samuel Haddock who recently died, but not before releasing ugly pictures and testimony of how Ringling tears baby elephants away from their mothers and forces them to do unnatural circus tricks. Former employee Tom Rider, who filed a lawsuit that was recently dismissed, was found by the court to not be credible with regards to his emotional attachment to the elephants. A legal requirement to sue under the Endangered Species Act. The Judge never made any findings regarding the credibility of Mr. Rider’s testimony concerning the abuse of the elephants. In fact the Judge never commented at all on the abuse charges as he dismissed the case on standing alone. However, the evidence submitted at trial, including Ringling’s employees testimony, clearly established the abuse. Peta’s 2009 undercover video showing Ringling handlers beating the elephants and Haddock’s pictures and dying testimony continue to expose Ringling’s abuse of the elephants

This man’s story did not come to light until AFTER his death. There were pictures to accompany his journal entries. I do not know enough about the legal case to comment, but it doesn’t take a genius to know that these animals do not belong in cages and tied up in small dirt areas and train cars, when their natural habitat is the jungle. And the stories of infant elephants being torn from their mothers side in infancy and hearing the cries of both mother and baby for days on end is pitiful. The circus has one function, to make money. They whip them, they tie them up, they inflict pain. I read there is video to back that up. I do agree that donations are desperately needed by local shelters as well, maybe more so.

Parents before you take your family to the circus you should know about the training Ringling puts their baby elephants through to make them perform.
http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/bound-babies.asp
Several Ringling baby elephants have died tragically, Ricardo 8 months, he was being trained to stand on a tub, Ricardo fell off breaking both his back legs. Benjamin 4 years, drowns trying to escape the bullhook his trainer is swinging at him. Kenny 3 years, was sick but was forced to perform in 3 shows, he died on the arena floor.
http://www.examiner.com/x-28944-Albany-Animal-Rights-Examiner~y2009m12d22-Sammy-Haddock-vs-Ringling-Bros?cid=edition-rss-Albany
Elephants have been scientifically proven to be “human” in terms of intelligence, emotional family and friendship bonding, nurturing of one another, along with age progression, and expected life span.
The Human equivalent to the life of a Circus Elephants is life on death row, but worse.