Spurred by Animal Abuse, Local Officials Reshaping the Big Top

Protecting circus animals was once seen as a cause only for extremists. But the drive for more humane treatment for lions and tigers and bears is picking up steam among local officials worried about bad press and liability.

From Quincy, Mass., to San Francisco, animal control officers, city governments and county boards of supervisors are demanding more stringent standards of care at the least, and in some cases are prohibiting wild animal acts from coming to town at all.

They are passing ordinances that go beyond federal and state regulations and are encouraging other local governments to join them.

That, in turn, is angering circus companies, who say local governments have no right interfering with state and federal laws. They say existing standards are perfectly adequate to protect their animal performers.

“This is happening all over the country,” said Richard Sarinato, director of the Captive Wildlife Protection Program for the Humane Society of the United States. “Local governments are saying, ‘Enough is enough.’ If the federal government won’t control this, we will.”

Animal rights activists have argued for decades that elephants and other wild animals should not be used in circus acts because keeping them caged and forcing them to perform is inhumane and contrary to their nature.

What’s more, they say, nobody can guarantee the public’s safety. Wild animals will on occasion act up, break loose, attack or bite. In fact, according to the Performing Animal Welfare Society in Galt, Calif., circus elephants kill an average of one person every year.

But, for the most part, their words fell on deaf ears. Big tops continued to fill with people while rodeos throughout the western states, and amusement parks like Sea World in Florida, continued to draw visitors by the hundreds of thousands.

Public opinion took a turn in 1994, though, when a 9,500-pound circus elephant owned by Hawthorn Corp. went on a rampage in Honolulu, killing its trainer and then storming through city streets before police gunned it down.

Then, in 1995, two circus elephants with Clyde Beatty & Cole Bros. broke loose in Queens, N.Y., stampeding a panicked audience. It turned out one had thrown and killed a Connecticut woman a decade earlier and rampaged through Hanover, Pa., the year before, running through a plate-glass window and sitting on cars.

Last year, spectators in Oregon watched a King Royal Circus elephant being beaten and stabbed by its trainer.

In August, actress Kim Basinger brought the issue into the limelight again when she used the death of another King Royal elephant in a sweltering, badly ventilated trailer in Albuquerque as a springboard to demand that the U.S. Department of Agriculture revoke the owner’s license.

In Los Angeles County, parents and health department officials worried after children rode or played with two Circus Vargas elephants the county said were infected with tuberculosis, an allegation the circus denied.

“What all this is saying is that circuses are not always doing the best job there is or that they can do with these animals,” Sarinato said.

Circuses are licensed and governed by the Animal Welfare Act, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But with 7,800 licensed shows performing at 10,400 different sites and only 73 inspectors, enforcement is lax at best, Sarinato said.

Enter local officials.

Among the first to act were Quincy, Mass., and Hollywood and Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., which prohibit circuses or other exotic animal shows completely.

The ban in Lauderdale Lakes is being challenged in court by opponents who say the city acted outside its power.

Members of the industry are watching that case closely because if that ban fails, they will challenge the others too, Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus spokeswoman Joan Galvin said.

This summer, the Marin Humane Society in California objected to Oklahoma-based Carson & Barnes’ request to put on a show. The move came after the county’s animal services director saw a show in Colorado and decided the elephants were not given enough water and showed signs of “fear-based training.”

The society drew up a 10-page list of conditions, including that the animals show no welts or signs of trauma and that they get appropriate rest periods. It also demanded that no electric shock, sedation or tranquilizers be employed for training and that no fire be used during performances.

“The Marin County Humane Society is very anti-circus, so they want to make it as hard as possible for us to perform, but I thought we worked very well together in the end,” said circus director Barbara Byrd.

Carson & Barnes officials signed the demands and the show went on, but the Humane Society didn’t stop there.

It plans to ask the board of supervisors to put more permanent and stringent guidelines into the county code and it is contacting other counties, urging them to do the same. It held a one-day seminar on its list of conditions in September, and representatives from 18 other California counties attended.

“If we all had permitting processes, then it would force these circuses to raise their standards by agreeing to individual permits,” Marin Humane Society spokesman Jason Willett said.

But researching and setting the conditions took a lot of work, and most county officials don’t have the time, he added.

“Most people don’t know what to look for, what a boil is on an elephant or if a pygmy hippo needs water. We researched all that information and consulted with a lot of zoologists and veterinarians to establish these guidelines. Then we wanted to share to save them the trouble.”

One of the first to follow Marin’s lead could be San Francisco, where there aren’t many circuses but where a gay rodeo and a Russian bear show have raised hackles in the past.

The San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare took up the issue in October and plans to vote on a recommendation this month.

The trend worries Ringling Bros.’ Galvin, who says existing regulations are strong enough and cities or counties that try to add to them are stepping on state and federal government toes.

“This is awful,” Galvin said after reading Marin’s guidelines. “My gut reaction is, it’s really unlike anything I’ve ever seen before at this level. It goes way beyond what the local authorities should and can be doing.”

She said she was downright insulted that they felt it necessary to put some of the conditions in the form of requirements. It’s not fair to judge all circuses by the bad acts of a few irresponsible ones, she said.

“Most reputable circuses have incredibly dedicated and professional staff,” she said. “It’s almost a personal affront to hear these things. That’s hard when it’s your livelihood, and it’s not an easy livelihood.

“It’s in our best interest to do what’s right and to treat these animals almost like members of the family,” she said, “almost sometimes better than you treat your own family.”