Las Vegas' story on Ringling - not the greatest!

[Guest guest]

Kudos - again - for running story about abusive animal "entertainment" practices! Remember they exposed the brutality of the rodeo a few months back, too! It's a fight pitting animal rights groups against the greatest show on earth. Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus is fighting allegations that its elephants are cruelly treated. Gerard Ramalho spoke with both sides and reviews compelling video that will be key in this case. A coalition of animal welfare groups and one former Ringling Brothers employee say they have evidence that circus elephants are mistreated and sometimes chained for days at a time. The amateur video which has recently surfaced was provided by the plaintiffs in this case. They say they'll use it in court

to prove their allegations. For more than a century the name Barnum and Bailey has been associated with great performers, comical clowns, and amazing animals. But soon the greatest show on earth may be required to perform its most difficult task ever. "I observed everything from what I call systematic daily abuse; these elephants are hit everyday, they're chained 24 hours a day," former Ringling Brothers employee Tom Rider told News 3. Rider, along with several animal rights groups, will testify against the circus this coming October. Rider, who provided the aforementioned video, claims elephant handlers and trainers regularly mistreat the animals; everything from prodding them with bull hooks to keeping them shackled for hours at a time. The federal lawsuit has been eight years in the making and ultimately seeks to have all elephants removed from the circus. But Ringling Brothers argues the suit is unfounded, countering that through the years animal management has evolved and now Ringling Brothers is even leading the charge in elephant conservation. "It just doesn't happen, they're very, very intelligent and when people come to the show and see those beautiful animals, with great muscle tone, they're obviously stimulated by their environment," Janice Aria, Director of Animal Stewardship with Ringling Brothers counters. "That's a representation of the care that they get." Still, Rider and others argue the proof is in the videos. For now the circus is still scheduled to appear in cities across the country, including Las Vegas. But the show that once wowed crowds under the big top may have its toughest performance yet in a federal courtroom. According to the plaintiffs, the video clips were recorded at various times over the past eight or nine years by animal activists. A

Ringling Brothers spokesperson tells us the videos can't be verified and says the ones she's seen are misleading and don't tell the real story. The trial will take place in October, but an actual date has yet to be set. Ringling Brothers is scheduled to be in Las Vegas June 19 - 22. http://pets.Fortheanimals7/join http://www.myspace.com/fortheanimals7