The circus is back in town!
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the so-called "Best Show on Earth," is returning to the Everett Events Center from September 6-9. Let's make this the last year the circus comes to Everett by speaking out on behalf of these cruelly exploited animals.
Ringling Bros. has a shameful and extensive history of animal abuse and neglect. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited Ringling over 100 times for repeatedly violating minimum standards of the Animal Welfare Act, including failure to provide veterinary care, adequate space and exercise, and proper feeding and sanitation.
Recent examples of Ringling Bros.' animal abuses and safety violations include:
- July 11, 2006: Improper handling of dangerous animals by failing to ensure that appropriate security was provided when the train containing the animals was stopped. The inspector wrote, "[T]hree APHIS personnel … were able to approach and walk unchallenged directly to the open doors of the elephant cars" and stressed that "under these circumstances a member of the public would have been able to enter the cars and approach the animals, thus jeopardizing their own safety, or place items inside the cars that could adversely affect the well-being of the animals."
- May 3, 2006: Failure to provide adequate veterinary care and maintain medical records for an elephant with a large swelling on her rear leg. Ringling did not have the prescribed medication on hand and the staff was unaware that the medication needed to be administered.
- July 31, 2004: According to an affidavit by former Ringling employee Frank Hagan, Ringling's elephant trainer Troy Metzler, nicknamed "Captain Hook" by circus staff, was frequently observed abusively hooking elephants, including babies, with a metal, spiked bull hook.
- July 13, 2004: According to an affidavit by former Ringling lion handler Frank Hagan, a 2-year-old lion named Clyde died while traveling through the intense heat of the Mojave Desert in a poorly ventilated boxcar without being checked or given water. The lion is believed to have died from heatstroke and dehydration.
These violations not only pose a risk to the animals' lives, but also endanger human lives.
 Despite Ringling Bros.' disturbing record, circuses that use animals inherently cause suffering for animals forced to perform in them. In the wild, animals live their lives sleeping, looking for food or raising their babies. But muzzled bears lying on their backs spinning giant balls, tigers jumping through flames, or elephants walking on their hind legs then balancing on their heads, are not the natural behaviors of these wild animals. Circus animals are brutally forced to perform these unnatural behaviors using electric prods, spiked metal hooks and whips.
Ringling Bros. is condemned by animal welfare organizations throughout the U. S. and abroad. And as the community has learned more about the appalling living conditions and shocking training techniques that these poor animals are subjected to, many caring citizens have abandoned this outdated and inhumane form of "entertainment." Ringling Bros. can no longer fill larger stadiums in Western Washington, such as Tacoma or Seattle, and has had to retreat to smaller communities like Everett.
Be a voice for the animals exploited by Ringling Bros.
- Help us educate circus attendees on the inherent cruelty of circuses
PAWS will be sharing information with circus-goers as they leave the shows. With the images of performing animals still fresh in their minds, we want to inspire circus goers to make this the last animal circus they ever attend.
If you would like to help, contact Mary Leake Schilder at marys@paws.org or 425.787.2500 x270. Mary will provide you with more information, including meeting times and location.
PAWS will be present at the circus the following days:
Thursday, September 6
Friday, September 7
Sunday, September 9—after both the matinee and evening performances
Please note: If you would like to speak out for circus animals on September 8, please join the Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN). Contact them at info@narn.org or 206.250.7301.
- Ask circus sponsors and promoters to stop supporting circuses that use animals.
Contact the Everett Events Center's (EEC) owners and management to share your disappointment that they are hosting this event. Circuses that use animals perpetuate an outdated attitude that animals are ours to exploit for financial gain. Tell EEC's management that you will only patronize circuses that do not use animals, such as Cirque du Soleil.
For a list of animal-free circuses, go to:
http://www.pawsweb.org/site/resources/index_info.htm
http://circuses.com/pdfs/AnimalFreeCircuses.pdf
To contact EEC Management write to:
Earl Dutton, President
Gary Weikel, Vice President
c/o Everett Events Center
2000 Hewitt Ave., Suite 200
Everett, WA 98201
425.322.2600
425.322.2601 (fax)
You can also contact the EEC's Preferred Partners and courteously inform them that by sponsoring the EEC they are also endorsing an event that is regularly cited for abusing animals. Respectfully request that the center's partners contact the EEC and express their deepest disapproval.
Thank you for speaking out for animals who cannot!
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