AR-News: Send in the clowns, but leave those lions and elephants alone

[molly]

SEND IN THE CLOWNS, but LEAVE THOSE LIONS and ELEPHANTS ALONE



By David Kelly, Times Staff Writer Latimes.com

DENVER - Heather Herman doesn't hate the circus. She has no problem with
clowns or the men on the flying trapeze, but she draws the line at leaping
lions and prancing pachyderms.

And if she has her way, the circus won't be coming to town.

The high school freshman gathered enough signatures last month to put a
question on Denver's Aug. 10 ballot asking residents to ban performances by
exotic animals.

"I believe animals do not belong in the circus, that they shouldn't perform,
shouldn't have clothes put on them or have people riding on them," said
Heather, 15. "To make animals perform you train them, and to train them you
must break them, which requires physical force."

Such talk has alarmed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which has
been coming to Denver since 1919 and now spends two weeks a year in the
city.

They enlisted Blinky the Clown, a local television personality and longtime
ringmaster, to help fend off the assault.

"I think the whole thing is ridiculous," said Blinky, also known as Russell
Scott, 82. "I never saw anyone train an animal by beating it. Now, I won't
stand here and say no one has ever hit an animal. Maybe some idiot hit a
zebra with a board once to make it move or something, but it's not normal."

Residents are also mobilizing.

Ron Sanchez, 23, helped start the Save the Circus Foundation with a website
dedicated to defeating the initiative.

"I go to the circus every year. It's part of Denver history," he said. "As a
kid growing up, I loved to watch the elephants. The circus is animals; it's
part of our culture. I worry about raising my kids in Denver if there is no
circus."

It's all mind-boggling to Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown.

He's concerned that his beloved city, once a rough-hewn cow town, is gaining
a reputation for flakiness.

Last year, a devotee of transcendental meditation got a measure on the
ballot calling for the city to reduce stress by pumping sitar music into
office buildings. It failed.

"I firmly believe the ballot process is getting out of hand," Brown said. "I
think it's getting wacky, like California."

He said residents should need at least 10,000 signatures to get something
onto the ballot, rather than the current 6,000. In any case, he likes the
circus, the $8 million it generates each year and the 400 jobs it provides.

"What's the circus supposed to do?" he asked. "Leave the animals on the
train?"

Feld Entertainment, which owns Ringling Bros., denied any mistreatment of
animals and said the circus would skip Denver if the measure passed.

"The bottom line is that Heather is wrong," said Tom Albert, vice president
of government relations for Feld. "I don't question her sincerity, but I
think she has bad information."

Once a circusgoer, Heather said she became increasingly appalled as she
learned more about what she believes are abusive animal-training techniques.
At age 13, she started Youth Opposed to Animal Acts, which aims to rid the
world of performances by exotic animals. Similar bans have been passed in
nearby Boulder and Estes Park.

"People say the circus is part of American culture, but at the same time
don't we have a culture that requires us to be more humane and be more
civilized?" she asked. "The circus should be progressing, not becoming
outdated."

Critics say Heather has fallen under the spell of radical animal rights
groups, a charge she dismisses.

"This was my idea," she said. "I don't think anyone's rights are being taken
away. If people want to see animals, they can go to the zoo. It's a little
bit more natural anyway."

David Crawford, executive director of Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, a
Boulder-based group dedicated to protecting wildlife, said it was cynical to
assume Heather was a pawn for other interests.

"I think her critics should have more faith in people," he said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals applauded Herman. "We have not
been dealing with Heather, though we find it extremely admirable that she
has taken this on at such a young age," said Lisa Wathne, PETA's expert on
the treatment of circus animals.

John Kirtland, who directs animal training for Feld Entertainment, invited
Heather to see how it's done. She declined, saying the circus would only
show her what it wanted her to see.

Kirtland said trainers use rewards and praise, not physical coercion. Lions
and tigers, he said, live 10 years longer at Ringling than in the wild.

"You want the animal to work with you with a bond of trust and respect. To
do that you need a nurturing environment," he said. "The truth is this ban
does nothing to advance animal care or welfare. If they really cared, they'd
want the animals to come to Denver to see how they are treated."

Meanwhile, Councilman Brown is busy fending off hate mail from supporters of
the ban.

"They tell me they'll put me on a billboard beside a dead elephant," he said
wearily. "One lady said, 'Why don't you join the circus and see what it's
like?' "