Animal rights activists preparing for elephants’ visit to Las Vegas

Monday, June 26, 2000 | 11:41 a.m.

Recent public opposition from animal rights activists including game show host Bob Barker should not dampen ticket sales to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus next week in Las Vegas, circus representatives predict.

The activists are throwing their weight behind a House resolution that would prohibit the use of elephants in traveling shows or circuses as well as the use of the animals for rides. They would be allowed to perform in permanent structures.

Barker testified before the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime earlier this month in favor of the resolution, saying that elephants are a threat to public safety. Nearly 30 people have been killed by circus or zoo elephants since 1983, he said.

Appearing with Barker were Pat Derby, president of Performing Animal Welfare Society, and Tom Rider, a former Ringling Bros. employee. Rider will be in Las Vegas Tuesday and Wednesday hoping to drum up more media attention on the issue before the circus' performances July 5-9 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

If anything, the media attention only creates more publicity for the circus, said Catherine Ort-Mabry, spokeswoman for Feld Entertainment Inc., the parent company of Ringling Bros.

The bill, introduced in September by Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., is backed by supporters who say elephants are wild animals that pose a threat to spectators.

Derby cites more than 60 incidents in the past 70 years in which elephants have escaped or killed spectators or riders.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, which opposes the bill, counters that the legislation "relies on emotion rather than fact."

"Once you get beyond the emotional rhetoric and get to the facts, people see this as a political agenda," Ort-Mabry said.

In its history, Ringling Bros. has not had one incident in which an elephant has threatened or harmed a member of the public, Ort-Mabry said.

But Derby, who has four elephants at PAWS' Northern California sanctuary, says placing the large animals in "stupid costumes" and having them do tricks is a "ticking time bomb."

A police officer from Palm Bay, Fla., who shot an out-of-control elephant in Florida and a woman from New York who said she was charged by an elephant at a Hannaford Bros. Circus in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., also spoke at the congressional hearing on June 13.

Farr said his interest in the issue is twofold: public safety and protection of the animals against abuse. In order to make animals perform, fear and torture are used, Farr said.

Although the resolution does not address animal cruelty, protecting elephants from abuse would be a byproduct of the bill, Derby said.

Enforcement is "too difficult when shows travel," Derby said. "It's easier when elephants are in one spot and unannounced inspections are made."

PAWS filed a separate complaint against Ringling Bros. with the U.S. Department of Agriculture based on the allegations of Rider, who worked for 2 1/2 years as a barn man for Ringling Bros.

Rider alleges that elephants with Ringling Bros. were repeatedly abused by trainers and handlers.

"I'm not a disgruntled employee," Rider said. "The public has to know what goes on behind the scenes at the circus. You have to beat an elephant into submission. They don't naturally go out there and climb on each other's backs."

Rider's allegations, which first came out in a British tabloid, came as a shock to representatives of Ringling Bros., who say that as an employee Rider never voiced his concerns.

"He is describing a pattern of systematic abuse," Ort-Mabry said. "If there were a pattern, it would be found."

Ort-Mabry said the circus is governed by the Animal Welfare Act and was inspected 36 times during Rider's employment.

"We have a legal obligation to treat the animals (well)," she added. "In every market we play, there is a network of local animal control officers and regulations. By not abiding by that, they could shut us down."

A circus doesn't need animals to be effective, Derby said. " 'Cirque du Soleil' and 'O' are two of the biggest shows in Las Vegas. They have no animals."

When asked whether he believes the bill will pass, Farr said: "It's a tough call. The entertainment industry is heavily lobbying against this bill."

"What we hope to gain is consumer support," Farr added. "If enough people stop going, maybe they'll discontinue using elephants."