Circus draws animal cruelty protest
Massive elephants wearing extravagant headdresses stand only on stumpy hind legs.
Their front legs rest on the backsides of the other elephants in front of them, creating a conga line of sorts.
It’s a seemingly impossible feat these chunky creatures complete with such ease.
At times, a human performer waves to the crowd while resting comfortably on a large fleshy elephant trunk during a pachyderm parade — not exactly a sight for a wildlife safari trip.
But “The Greatest Show On Earth” incorporates natural animal behavior despite the hoops and fire, circus officials say.
“A lot of the stuff you see in the show you can see in the wild or on National Geographic,” said Joey Frisco, a 26-year-old senior elephant handler with Ringling Brothers. “If (the elephants) go on their heads, they’re digging in the ground for water, or if they’re on their hind legs, they’re searching for food up high. It’s natural behavior.”
Outside of the Orleans Arena on Thursday evening, animal rights activists protested the opening night of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus performance to celebrate the 200th birthday of P.T. Barnum.
The performances run through Sunday.
For Las Vegas resident Linda Faso, who helped organize the protest, it’s difficult to watch people bring their children to circus shows. She’s been protesting circus events for 22 years. It isn’t about the willing human performers, she said. Her concern is with the welfare of the animals in terms of their training and traveling conditions.
“This is archaic,” said Faso, a local activist who works with animal rights groups nationwide. “This needs to stop. It’s brutality, and it’s just not OK. For a few minutes of entertainment they have to live a lifestyle of misery.”
An almost decade-long federal court case was dismissed against Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey in December after the judge ruled the court lacked jurisdiction. Feld Entertainment Inc., which owns the circus, is currently involved in mediation with The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and a former Ringling Brothers employee, according to an assistant who answered the phone at D.C.-based law firm Meyer, Glitzenstein & Crystal, which handled the case.
Videos of shouting circus trainers across the country have surfaced online for years showing chained elephants and other animals with claims that they’re being abused with prods and bull hooks — or “guides” as Frisco called them — which are long, Fiberglas cane-like tools with a stainless steel hook on the end. It is used to coerce the animal into learning or performing a trick.
Frisco said any reports about Ringling Brothers trainers abusing animals is untrue.
“The guide is an extension of the arm,” he said. “We touch them on cue points like the top of the head or the foot while using verbal cues.
“The videos coming out are all enhanced, all edited. There’s not one video I haven’t seen that isn’t edited.”
The enormous animals travel in custom made train cars equipped with heaters, coolers, water and food. There are veterinarians who travel with the group and on-call vets in cities throughout the country, Frisco added.
“They’re so majestic, so cool to be around, and the second smartest animal in the world,” Frisco said. “To work with these guys is amazing. The average age of an elephant is 45, and we have three that are over 60. We take great care of our elephants.”
Contact Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.
Circus draws animal cruelty protest
