AR-News: Times Leader (US-PA): Circus opens with protest by animal rights activists

Tue Apr 13 08:55:14 EDT 2004

(The Times Leader takes letters at: joeb at leader.net )

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/8416751.htm

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           Posted on Tue, Apr. 13, 2004

            Circus opens with protest by animal rights activists

            By BONNIE ADAMS
            badams at leader.net

            WILKES-BARRE - Red-lettered signs around the perimeter of the
armory warned that only circus patrons could enter the property.
            Animal rights activist Lisa Bascom said they were likely
directed at her and a handful of others who protested last night's opening
of the 55th annual Irem Shrine Circus.

            The protesters are a fixture at each year's circus at the 109th
Field Artillery Armory on West Market Street.

            "We don't like to see wild animals in circuses," said Bascom.
The Wilkes-Barre woman and others stood in a steady rain and held posters or
handed out pamphlets to adults, most with children, prior to the 7:15 p.m.
performance.

            The protesters from Luzerne and Lackawanna counties represented
various animal rights groups such as Voice of the Animals, Justice for
Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

            Justice for Animals President Jill Mahovich of Freeland recalled
a teenage girl she met while protesting one circus. The girl subsequently
returned to help protest other performances and educate the public about the
treatment of circus animals.

            "It was really great. It made us feel like we were making a
difference," Mahovich said.

            PETA activist Eileen Botti said people who attend circuses
support cruelty to animals. The Scranton woman said she hopes to help
decrease attendance at circuses.

            "Those animals are in there. We have to speak out for them,"
said Botti, a student at Marywood University in Scranton.

            Coughlin High School freshman Robyn Tlapa said animal cruelty
got her involved in the cause. Tlapa, 15, wore a gray costume and mask last
night to portray a circus elephant with its legs chained together and in a
cage.

            Peter Rozing of Wilkes-Barre said he became a vegetarian years
ago and thinks that circus protests have an impact. "These types of
educational programs aren't going to happen overnight," he said.

            Longtime protester Silvie Pomicter, president of Voice of the
Animals, wore an anti-fur button on her coat. "We have to educate people.
Animals weren't brought on this earth to use any way we desire," said
Pomicter.

            Bonnie Adams, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at
829-7241.

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