Please Don't Make Me Do Those Tricks

[marysgurl]

marysgurl said:

Elephant-free Zoos

[marysgurl]

Tell WKCF-TV That Animal Abuse Is Not Entertaining

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WKCF in Central Florida is promoting animal abuse as entertainment to unsuspecting customers by supporting "The Cruelest Show on Earth" by offering free tickets to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus routinely tears baby elephants away from their mothers in order to train them as "entertainers." The babies are chained and isolated during the training process. In 1999, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that Ringling had caused "unnecessary trauma, behavioral stress, and physical harm and discomfort" to two baby elephants. Inspectors found large, visible lesions on the elephants' legs, and Ringling trainers admitted that the lesions were rope burns caused by separating the infant animals from their mothers.

Animals used in circuses are subjected to violent training, continual confinement, and grueling routines. Whips, bullhooks, and shock prods are used to punish and control animals. An increasingly enlightened public is rejecting the notion that a fleeting moment of fun is worth the agony that these magnificent animals must endure daily.

Please write a polite letter to WKCF-TV expressing your disappointment that it is promoting this outdated and cruel practice:

Wayne Spracklin, General Manager
WKCF-TV
31 Skyline Dr.
Lake Mary, FL 32746
407-645-1818
407-647-4163 (fax)
[e-mail]

Every one can help!

[marysgurl]

marysgurl said:

One more place to help...please!!

Elephant Protection Ordinance

Hit the link to Mayor Daley. It doesn't have to say anything but, "Please Help Them".....that's all it takes.

If everyone thought that one person's voice or one person's vote couldn't help make a difference, nothing would ever change. C'mon, what will hurt you?

[marysgurl]

admin said:

i did my baby!!

[marysgurl]

marysgurl said:

Thanks, Darlin!

[marysgurl]

marysgurl said:

Hawthorn Elephants Headed for Freedom!
February 2, 2006, UPDATE: Minnie, Lottie, Queenie, and Liz Safe at Sanctuary; Four More to Follow

In October, after extensive negotiations, Hawthorn Corporation finally agreed to donate nine of 12 remaining elephants to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. The largest single rescue of elephants in United States history, four elephants have already made the journey. Lottie and Minnie were the first to be moved, followed by Liz and Queenie. Debbie, Ronnie, Billie, and Frieda will follow. Sue, a 40-year-old Asian elephant, never fully recovered from being tranquilized for a blood draw prior to the move and, despite intensive treatment, died on December 30.

As part of the “Caravan to Freedom,” the elephants are traveling in a special chain-free trailer donated by UPS. With all the circus travel and trauma now behind them, these elephants can focus on just being elephants and enjoying the acres of grass, forest, and ponds at the sanctuary.

[marysgurl]

marysgurl said:

JUNE 21, 2005 UPDATE: Judge Dismisses PETA’s Motion for Restraining Order

A federal judge denied legal standing to PETA for a motion to block the transfer of four elephants from the Hawthorn Corporation to a Carson & Barnes Circus facility in Hugo, Oklahoma, as well as a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which approved the deal.

Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that animal protection groups (in this case, PETA) have no legal standing to intervene in the transfer—even to prevent elephants from being passed from one admitted violator to a circus with a history of beating elephants with bullhooks and shocking them with electric prods. However, the judge did note that video footage depicting Carson & Barnes Animal Care Director Tim Frisco viciously attacking elephants was troubling and depicts conduct that violates the Animal Welfare Act. Frisco still works for the circus.

What You Can Do

Urge the USDA to send the elephants to The Elephant Sanctuary instead of to a cruel circus and to implement its consent decision by revoking Hawthorn’s license to exhibit animals.
Urge Oklahoma officials to deny import of the Hawthorn elephants in order to protect the state’s wildlife and residents.

[marysgurl]

Circus Spies: Ringling CEO Trial Prompts Whistleblower to Reveal Haunting Accounts of Elephant Abuse
UPDATE March 2006

Professional dancer Jodey Eliseo toured with Ringling Bros. for two years. When she saw coverage of the trial of Ringling CEO Kenneth Feld, she wanted to share her horrific recollections of the abuse of elephants by Ringling handlers. Eliseo told PETA how she saw an elephant forced to perform with a huge infected boil that covered half her leg; Ringling handlers beat an elephant for stumbling during a performance; teenage elephant Sophie covered with bullhook wounds from constant beatings; and a baby elephant who was severely beaten as punishment for running amok and smashing through a wall at a civic center.

Eliseo also wrote to Chicago Alderman Mary Ann Smith in support of the Elephant Protection Ordinance currently under consideration, which would ban bullhooks and other weapons from being used against elephants in Chicago.

[marysgurl]

Ringling Bros.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus paints a picture of happy animals doing tricks because they like to. We ask you to read the following and decide whether that's true. Here are Ringling's own words juxtaposed with the facts:

Ringling:
"At Ringling Bros., the relationship between animals and humans is built on mutual respect, trust, and affection."
Reality:
Video footage of Ringling trainers shows an elephant being whipped in the face and gouged with metal hooks.

Ringling:
"We are proud of our USDA inspection reports."
Reality:
Ringling Bros.' USDA inspection reports are riddled with instances in which federal inspectors found that Ringling Bros. had failed to comply with minimum federal regulations, and the circus has been cited for causing animals unnecessary trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm, and discomfort, a failure to provide animals with veterinary care, a failure to provide animals exercise, a failure to provide sufficient space, as well as not keeping the proper veterinary records.

Ringling:
"None of our animals are taken from the wild."
Reality:
The Asian Elephant Regional Stud Book, the industry resource for information on elephant births, deaths, and captures, shows that the majority of Ringling's elephants were captured in the wild.

Ringling:
"Trainers teach animals routines that showcase their natural behaviors, beauty, and distinctive personalities."
Reality:
In nature, bears don't ride bicycles, elephants don't stand on their heads, and a tiger would never hop on his hind legs. To force wild animals to perform confusing acts, trainers use whips, muzzles, electric prods, and bullhooks. In their real homes, these animals would be free to raise their families, forage for food, and play together. Instead, the circus forces them to perform night after night, for 48 to 50 weeks every year. Between acts, elephants are kept chained and tigers are "stored" in cages with barely enough room to take one step. Ringling has also invented a "unicorn" by mutilating a baby goat--surgically moving his horns to the center of his forehead.

Ringling:
"Future generations will be able to experience the wonder ... of Asian elephants because of what we're doing today."
Reality:
Circuses have claimed for decades that exhibiting endangered Asian elephants will inspire their protection. Yet in 2000, poachers killed 60 free-roaming female elephants so that their babies could be collected and sold to the entertainment industry. The still-nursing elephants, all under the age of 3, refused to abandon their dead mothers, even attempting to suckle from their corpses.

Ringling:
"Our training methods are based on positive reinforcement in the form of food rewards and words of praise."
Reality:
Ringling has opposed proposed laws banning cruel training methods. In comments submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture dated April 17, 2000, Ringling opposed language in the agency’s "Draft Policy on Training and Handling of Potentially Dangerous Animals" that reads, "Hot shots, shocking collars, or shocking belts should not be used for training or to handle the animals during exhibition, and any such use will be closely scrutinized. An ankus may not be used in an abusive manner that causes wounds or other injuries."

Ringling:
"We fully cooperate with all U.S. Department of Agriculture investigations."
Reality:
According to an internal February 25, 1999, U.S. Department of Agriculture memo written by an inspector and detailing injuries found on two baby elephants during a February 9, 1999, inspection, "[Ringling veterinarian] Dr. Lindsay was very upset and asked repeatedly why we could not be more collegial and call him before we came. I explained to him that all our inspections are unannounced. ... All Ringling personnel were very reluctant to let us take pictures [of the calves’ rope lesions]. … [Ringling employee Jim Williams] proceeded to interrogate me. … He then began badgering me. … He then walked away in apparent disgust."

Ringling:
"Ringling Bros. has pioneered the use of a traveling perimeter fence within which our elephants can exercise and socialize."
Reality:
In 1993, Ringling Bros. helped defeat legislation in California that would have limited the number of hours per day that elephants could be chained. Ringling wrote, "Chaining is a safe and acceptable means of protecting both the elephants and the public."

[marysgurl]

Do You Really Think I'm Happy?

[katmandu]

You'd thing we would have moved on from having animals perform for our entertainment, but alas, such is not the case.

[marysgurl]

I agree, katman. I think-or at least I want to believe-that it is just plain ignorance rather than an innate selfishness in humans that makes us want to have complete power & control over creatures that should be allowed to roam free & live their lives in their natural environment. Very sad for these magnificent, intelligent, & compassionate creatures.

Thank you for your support.

[freebird1]

And people wonder why they go on a rampage. Like humans they have a breaking point also.
When we go to the circuses we are supporting this kind of treatment to the animals. I don't really think that it only pertains to the elephants. What about the other animals? Do all ciruses do this? If not which ones don't.

[Quettalee]

Unfortunately, Freebird, all circuses that exploit wild animals have similar practices. Wild animals are meant to be just that--wild. For them to entertain humans and perform tricks on demand, that wild spirit that they are born with must be broken. If you were able to watch any of the videos, you already know just how "humane" humans can be--all at the suffering and frequent deaths of these beautiful creatures. And yes, it pertains to all wild animals, not just elephants.

I will never go to another circus that "showboats" animals. I never really cared for the circus, anyway. Even when I was a kid, I always thought it was sad to see someone keeping all those animals in cages that were suppose to live out in the open. I loved "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" on tv...do you remember that show? I would watch those animals--the big cats stretch it out when they were running & I thought, "those caged animals never get to run like that". It made me sad. And the elephants--all they do all day in their natural environment is walk--30+ miles a day. I remember thinking, "I wonder how many times they have to walk around in those tiny rings in a circle to equal 30 miles a day?" I hated the circus, but we always had to go because my dad got free tickets from work or something.

Circus animals never get to bond. When you see animals in the wild, they hang out together all day & bond & touch & nuzzle & play....you think circus animals ever get any of that?

Whoops....looks like I found my soapbox. Thanks for the motivation & interest, Freebird.

[Quettalee]

USDA Revokes License of Exotic Animal Menagerie

[Quettalee]

Ringling Bros. Still Abusing Elephants

[freebird1]

Your welcome Q, I had read somewhere (years ago) that in order to train the horses for their beloved Derby to "Break" a horses spirit they use pretty much the same methods to train them when they are just babies. I HATE THE DERBY!!!!!! If I hear anything on the radio or on t.v. about the derby I will break my neck to turn the channel. I will not eat, shop,or go to anything that has anything to do with the derby. No fireworks, nothing. If someone asks me if I am going to Chow wagon, balloon glow or anything else I say H..L NO!! I think it's so cruel, and for people to celebrate this. the way I see it is you can't tell your child no for doing something wrong, thats called abuse but you get paid for beating a poor defenseless beautiful animal. Sorry now I'm on a soapbox.

[Quettalee]

I know, Freebird. I'm having issues this year especially because the sole sponsor of the whole thing is YUM Inc. YUM is KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, & now Long John Silvers has joined the conglomerate.

You know how I feel about KFC & their poultry practices. I use to like Taco Hell, but those places are just so nasty! Have you ever actually looked in where they prepare the food at any fast food restaurant? It is disgusting. And LJS is like eating pure grease. YUCK!

We don't really eat out anywhere anymore, except usually on Sundays Mary & I will go to our favorite Chinese buffet. (Golden Blossom behind Meijers in Jeff) We are usually among the first to get there & it is fresh & clean & they have lots of veggie choices. It's really good.

Anyway, back to the Derby. I don't like the races...just another way for man to exploit animals for profit.

I do like some of the festivities--especially the funnel cakes! The balloons were all aglow at the fair grounds last night as I was going to work. They are so beautiful. The chow wagons I can leave--we don't drink alcohol enough or eat the foods that are being served, so unless there is a band that I'm just crazy about hearing, not a problem for me to skip the whole thing.

We might do something next weekend, but it won't be Derby-related.

Nice picture; looks like Argo. I'll share too...this is how horses should run, in my opinion...

[quettalee]

that is a beautifull sight my baby!!!!

[freebird1]

That is a pic of Argo. I was watching Xena on my D.V.D.rom and captured the pic.
I don't go to anything related to the Derby because even a soft drink or a funnel cake still gives the Derby a % of it's earnings. I WILL NOT support it in any way, shape, or form.