Circus "a Culture of Violence and Domination"
From Ex-Ringling Bros. Employee Archele Hundley:
I was one of those little girls who dreamed of working with animals when I grew up. So when I had a chance to apply for a job with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, I gave up my well-paying job and jumped at it. I was delighted to be hired in April 2006 to help care for Ringling’s performing horses.
What I witnessed will haunt me for the rest of my life. Although I’ve never been an animal rights activist and am not a member of PETA, I would never again patronize an animal circus and I would never, ever take my children to see one. What I discovered is that the animal division of Ringling Bros. is a culture of violence and domination.
There is no “positive reinforcement,” and there is certainly no affection. The trainers and handlers want the animal terrified so that they can make them do what they want. The elephants are so terrified of the handlers that they begin urinating, defecating and trumpeting in fear at the sound of their voices.
I observed animal abuse on a regular basis, every single day I worked with the circus. Handlers jabbed horses with pitchforks and viciously twisted the horses’ lips until they screamed. Ringling handlers knew they could get away with anything with the horses, as horses are excluded from protection under the federal Animal Welfare Act.
Ringling’s head trainer once beat an elephant with a sharp metal bullhook (a standard circus tool that resembles a fireplace poker) for a full 30 minutes because the elephant refused a command to lie down. The trainer smacked her repeatedly with the bullhook behind her ear and on her leg. When she still ignored his commands, the trainer swung the bullhook into the elephant’s ear canal like a baseball bat, and, with it embedded, pulled down with all his body weight on the handle. She squealed in pain three or four times and let out a loud, shrill shriek. She was so severely wounded that blood ran down the whole side of her face.
When I complained about the abuse, after seeing a trainer whip a camel and another punch a miniature horse in the face, I was told that I could pack my bags if I didn’t like it. Other employees who complained too much were fired. Ringling management never reprimanded violent trainers but they were careful not to let the public witness mistreatment. Employees weren’t even allowed to carry cameras in case we should capture the abuse or the filthy living conditions on film. After just three months, I quit, heartbroken by what I’d seen and what I knew I couldn’t stop. I have nothing to gain by coming forward. But I have given a sworn affidavit about what I witnessed because the least I can do is let others know what’s going on and to implore them not to support Ringling and other animal circuses.
The laws that are supposed to protect animals in circuses are inadequate and do nothing to stop the pervasive violence against animals. Although I grew up starry-eyed about life on the road with a circus, I now believe we owe it to the animals and to our children to tell the truth: Every time someone pays the price of admission to Ringling Bros., they are ensuring that the beatings, whippings, chaining and suffering of animals continues.
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There are definitely legitimate cases of animal abuse. This is a sickening example of that. I probably would have killed one of those rat bastards with his own bullhook. Excuse my language, but I think it was called for. This is the kind of stuff PETA should talk about. Talking about how eating meat, hunting, or wearing fur is abusive make them sound like shrill, raving, lunatics who should be ignored. This new "sea fish" campaign is just the most recent example. I read another article where they rated the top 10 "karmic" abuse stories. They mentioned, with a sense of almost sadistic glee, a monk with no other alternative trying to drive away wasps with a torch who ended up being severely burned and burning his temple down. They rated this as more "karmic" than a man taking what they call simply a gun, though presumably a long gun like a rifle or shotgun, and beating his dog with it, swinging it like a baseball bat. Apparently the rifle then was loaded, because the impacts caused it to discharge, shooting the man. It didn't say whether he survived or not. I don't know about you, but I would say a poor little monk who tries to take care of a wasp problem and ends up losing everything and being burned is tragic, and doesn't even deserve to be on the list, while the story of the the man beating his dog with a rifle was rated as tenth on the list. PETA also apparently considers it "karmic" for hunters to wander off of cliffs or be shot by their kids, and for fishermen to hook themselves. They would actually have a case if they went after real cases of abuse, but when the go berserk every time an animal experiences some discomfort because of a human, they discredit themselves entirely, and open themselves and any other activists against animal abuse up to mockery. Riding horses or taming elephants are not abusive acts. What is described above is. They need to make that distinction.
Excuse me. The campaing mentioned above is the "sea kitten" campaign, not the "sea fish." I mistyped and failed to proofread.