Wolfwood
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RINGLING BROTHERS WILL STAND TRIAL FOR ELEPHANT ABUSE
On August 23, 2007, a federal district court in Washington, D.C., issued a major ruling rejecting the last-ditch attempt of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to avoid trial over charges that the circus abuses its Asian elephants.
The groundbreaking lawsuit, brought by the ASPCA, the Fund for Animals, the Animal Welfare Institute, the Animal Protection Institute and Tom Rider, a former employee of Ringling Bros., alleges that the circus violates the Endangered Species Act by abusively training and disciplining elephants with sharp implements such as bullhooks, by intensively confining and chaining the animals for prolonged periods, and by forcibly separating baby elephants from their mothers.
In its ruling, the court scolded the circus for “wast[ing] a considerable amount of time and resources” of the court and the prosecuting groups by engaging in delay tactics over several years. Furthermore, the court reiterated a previous ruling that the circus has repeatedly violated a court order by withholding critical evidence.
“The ASPCA is delighted with this latest ruling, which paves the way for the real case at hand—whether Ringling Brothers violated the Endangered Species Act in its treatment of the elephants,” states the ASPCA’s Lisa Weisberg, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs & Public Policy. The trial schedule will be determined early next year, and the trial itself is expected to begin sometime in 2008.
--ASPCA Site |
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