AR-News: Eyewitness Account of Circus Animals

[Tricia Panitz]

January 26, 2004

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Courtenay Tosti (formerly Courtenay Warren). I worked at 
Carson & Barnes Circus C&B) during 1993 when I was 21 years old. The 
following is an account of what I witnessed while working at the circus.

Many of the people working at C&B were on the run from something they 
had done. I was warned to be careful when I joined as 2 workers had 
supposedly killed their wives, and were known to brutalize women. My 
boss, John "JB" Brooks, cursed at me constantly and frequently.
The Millers, who own the circus, had various skins and skulls of 
deceased performing animals, including a tiger skin and a hippo skull, 
decorating their homes and offices.

Owners told me that I would be sorry if I ever told what I saw. Based on 
what I had heard and the tone used by my superiors, I felt as if they 
were threatening me with physical harm. When I stood crying as they 
dumped the body of Nelson, a Siberian tiger, into a trash bin Gary Byrd 
approached me and said that if I knew what was good for me I would keep 
quiet.

All of the animals were stressed out much of the time, and some of them 
got very aggressive. Margaret, the elephant, chased a man up a pole, 
tried on numerous occasions to karate-kick me as she would go past, and 
was always in trouble.

A member of the prop crew got too close to the tiger cage one night and 
a tiger grabbed the boys head with his paw and inflicted deep wounds. I 
saw the injured boy right after the attack, he was sitting on a chair, 
with his head between his knees, blood was pouring out of a couple of 
large holes in his head.

The owners and handlers knew how dangerous the animals were. However, 
that did not stop them from putting the animals near the spectators. 
Even certain elephants who were known to have killed people and were 
considered "insane" were not kept away from the public. It was very easy 
for the public to approach the elephants on the picket line from the 
rear, which startles them, and as I was in the security department I was 
frequently forced to make entire families leave the elephants area, 
where they would bring their children right up to the chained elephants 
to pet them, oblivious to how deadly this could be. If no one was 
watching closely people would often duck the useless barriers in front 
of the Cat Cages and approach the big cats, sometimes holding their 
children up for a better look.

I never saw a vet attend to any animals when they were on the road.

While having a difficult birth, a four-horned sheep was put into a hot 
trailer and left alone. She could be heard screaming but no one attended 
her, she died.

A wallaby had open, festering wounds and was not provided with vet care.

A Siberian tiger, Nelson, was ill, supposedly from pneumonia, and laid 
down in the chute as it was no longer able to stand. Several handlers 
stabbed at him with bullhooks to get him to move. He was not given vet 
care, and died soon thereafter. His body was picked up by a front-end 
loader and dumped in a trash bin. I was told that his skin would be kept.

A pygmy hippo, Katy, was not given water to lay in, and her back was 
cracked and bloody. I inquired about this and was told that a pygmy was 
not a 'water hippo', and that water only irritated her back. The hippo 
from the year before died at a young age.

Animals were often left out in the hot sun, the rain, and in extreme  
temperatures, sometimes below freezing. I saw Goliath, a white 
rhinoceros, huddled against the back of his cage trying to stay warm. I 
saw the zebra, standing head down, shivering in the snow.

The elephants were not allowed to cover themselves with mud or water 
because it would mess up the performers uniforms. Their skin was very 
dry and cracked, and would often bleed. If  they attempted to throw 
water on their backs they were beaten.

The elephants were only fed hay and sweet feed, which caused them to 
suffer digestive problems, including diarrhea.

All of the elephant handlers went into the barn at winter quarters to 
blow torch the hair off the elephants, which could tear a performers 
uniform. They would close the doors but you could hear the elephants 
screaming, and smell the burning hair and skin. I later saw black marks 
on the elephants bodies. When I asked about it I was told it was from 
the blow-torching, but that it 'didn't hurt'.

It was well known that new handlers were taught to be mean and 
aggressive to the animals. When they were not mean enough, they were 
reprimanded, taken off animal duty, or fired. I witnessed one handler, 
Oakie Carrs son-in-law, harshly criticizing a new elephant handler for 
not being more aggressive with Bunny, the elephant in his charge.

The handlers took great pride in concocting newer and more violent 
torture devices. They would put nails and hooks into baseball bats. They 
would put larger hooks, the type used by firemen to tear open walls, 
into the creation of their bullhooks. Their devices put ordinary 
bullhooks to shame.
I observed one practice training session in the barn at the winter 
quarters. The trainer struck the elephants over and over, and called 
them filthy names. They were struck on their eyes and genital areas.

Elephants were constantly beaten every day. The handlers yanked and 
stabbed at them with the hook, and hit them with baseball bats. This was 
done because the elephants did not respond quickly enough to a command, 
because the elephants were doing something that annoyed the handlers, 
like playing with the picket line, and often for no apparent reason.

An elephant named Mona, reputedly crippled during her training, had 
severe back problems but continued to travel with the circus until she 
fell out of the trailer twice and was mortally injured.
Alta, one of the elephants Reggie Lindsey was in charge of, turned and 
ran out of the tent during the show, knocking cars out of her way. She 
was brought back and beaten severely by Lindsey. Lindsey often beat her, 
and she ran like this more than once.

Becky the elephant was forced to perform when she had a painful foot 
infection. She walked very slowly with a limp, and was struck and yelled 
at to get her to move more quickly.

Despite suffering from arthritis, Minnie was forced to do the routine 
called the long mount where all the elephants stand propped on each 
others backs in a row. Each time she did it she would wince, shake her 
head and scream in pain.

Margaret was an elephant who was often in trouble. In order to teach her 
a lesson, 6 or 7 elephant handlers surrounded her and began beating her 
ruthlessly as she was chained front and back legs. Some of them stabbed 
at her legs to keep her off balance while one beat her over the head 
with a baseball bat until she was bloody. She fell forward and started 
crying, shaking, urinating and defecating. It went on for several minutes.

Kay, a matriarchal elephant well into her fifties was very sick with 
kidney problems. She was forced to perform even though she was very ill. 
She died while the circus was performing in Taylorville, Ill. She was 
standing and since she was chained to the picket line, her body just 
tilted forward. All of the other elephants became hysterical and were 
screaming and trying to touch her and offer assistance, but they 
couldn't move because they, too, were chained.

I have heard the animals agonizing cries for help go unanswered. I have 
heard the circus people lie to the public about how the animals are 
treated. I share this information in hopes that the public will 
understand the degree of immense pain and suffering, beatings and 
neglect, and illnesses and deaths that circus animals experience on a 
regular basis and refuse to support it.
 
Sincerely,
Courtenay Tosti
(817)312-9797