AR-News: (US-DC) ENDANGERED ELEPHANTS ONE STEP CLOSER TO VICTORY OVER RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS

[Tracey McIntire]

For Immediate Release

ENDANGERED ELEPHANTS ONE STEP CLOSER TO VICTORY OVER RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS

U.S. District Court Denies Circus Motion To Dismiss Lawsuit

WASHINGTON, DC (July 31, 2003)  The U.S. District Court for the 
District of Columbia has ruled against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & 
Bailey Circus, allowing a case to go forward charging the circus with 
violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for its routine abuse of 
endangered Asian elephants. The case has been brought against the circus 
by a former Ringling Bros. elephant worker, the American Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Animal Welfare Institute 
(AWI), and The Fund for Animals, who will present eyewitness testimony 
and videotaped evidence that Ringling Bros. beats its elephants with 
bull hooks.

Todays ruling stated that in the present case, the Court must accept 
as true plaintiffs assertions concerning defendants treatment of Asian 
elephants, a species considered endangered under the ESA.

The ASPCA is very pleased with the courts decision, said Lisa 
Weisburg, senior vice president of Government Affairs and Public Policy 
at the ASPCA. We believe we will successfully prove that Ringling Bros. 
engages in ongoing abuse of the elephants during the separation process 
of babies from their mothers and in the training of elephants to 
perform. Michael Markarian, President of The Fund for Animals, added, 
The public deserves to know the truth about the routine animal cruelty 
that goes on under the Big Top.

Elephants, including babies, have suffered greatly at the hands of 
Ringling Bros., said Cathy Liss, President for the Animal Welfare 
Institute. Our lawsuit simply seeks to stop the torture. Former 
Ringling Bros. elephant trainer and co-plaintiff in the case, Tom Rider, 
witnessed routine beatings of the circus elephants with bull hooks and 
his testimony is also a part of the animal groups case.

The groups are represented by the public interest law firm of Meyer & 
Glitzenstein. A copy of the courts four-page order is available online 
at www.fund.org/uploads/RinglingOrder.pdf.