THIS WAS IN THE COLUMBIA, S.C. NEWSPAPER "THE STATE" YESTERDAY!
After more than eight years of legal skirmishing, a trial is scheduled to open Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by animal welfare groups alleging that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus routinely abuses its performing elephants.
The plaintiffs - including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute - allege that trainers' use of sharp tools called bullhooks and the prolonged use of chains on the Asian elephants add up to an egregious violation of the federal Endangered Species Act.
They seek an order from U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., halting these practices, which some activists hope would force Ringling Bros. to give up elephants altogether.
( In this Jan. 26, 2009 file photo provided by Feld Entertainment, elephant handler Trudy Williams tends to "Barack" at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation, in Central Florida. The 250 pound male Asian elephant was born at the center on Monday, Jan. 19, and according to the center, is only the fourth elephant to be born in the United States as a result of artificial insemination. Barack's mother, Bonnie, joins them in the pen. )
- Feld Entertainment, Inc. /AP Photo
After more than eight years of legal skirmishing, a trial is scheduled to open Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by animal welfare groups alleging that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus routinely abuses its performing elephants.
The plaintiffs - including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute - allege that trainers' use of sharp tools called bullhooks and the prolonged use of chains on the Asian elephants add up to an egregious violation of the federal Endangered Species Act.
They seek an order from U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., halting these practices, which some activists hope would force Ringling Bros. to give up elephants altogether.
( In this Jan. 26, 2009 file photo provided by Feld Entertainment, elephant handler Trudy Williams tends to "Barack" at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation, in Central Florida. The 250 pound male Asian elephant was born at the center on Monday, Jan. 19, and according to the center, is only the fourth elephant to be born in the United States as a result of artificial insemination. Barack's mother, Bonnie, joins them in the pen. )
- Feld Entertainment, Inc. /AP Photo
The rest of the article can be found at http://www.thestate.com/166/story/670832.html
The Ringling Center for Elephant Conservation website is well worth your time to go and read for yourself. http://www.elephantcenter.com/
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