LEGISLATION
State passes elephant care law - May 21, 2003
Legislature enacts bill on treatment of performing elephants - May 21, 2003
Massachusettes State Bill Heard in Boston - May 9, 2003
Ferrets could win their freedom -April 2003
Circus Bill Held Until 04 (Tennessee) - March 26, 2003
Fate of Allowing Circus Elephants to be Decided Today (Tennessee) - March 26, 2003
Laws to help circus elephants (Queensland, Australia) - March 24, 2003
Bill Would Outlaw Circus Elephants (Tennessee) - March 19, 2003
Circus Can Survive Without Elephants - Feb. 27, 2003
Performing Circus Pachyderms Make for Bad Showmanship - Feb. 24, 2003
Bill on Circus Elephants Draws Crowd - February 20, 2003
Bill Would Ban Circus Elephants in Maine - February 19, 2003
Course at The Environmental Law Center in Vermont offers a course in Animal Rights Law
Maine Bill (main points of legislation) — An Act to Prevent Abuse of Elephants
Maine Friend of Animals — Elephant Free in 2003 campaign in full stride — January 28, 2003
Maine Friend of Animals — Silence is the Voice of Complicity — January 28, 2003
An Evening to Remember: Because Elephants Never Forget — January 16, 2003
THE ARTICLES
State passes elephant care law
May 21, 2003
AUGUSTA - Maine is the first state in the country to pass legislation that will address the treatment of performing elephants.Although it is substantially different than first proposed, a bill to monitor elephants in traveling circuses as they pass through Maine has been approved by the state Legislature. It awaits the signature of Gov. John Baldacci to become law.
The original bill, LD 327, would have banned all elephants used in circuses, traveling exhibitions or zoos. Instead, amendments eliminated the ban and directed the Maine Department of Agriculture to adopt rules of care for elephants that reflect those used by the federal government.
"This is a first step, a step in the right direction," said Sen. Margaret Pendleton, D-Cumberland, the bill's sponsor on Tuesday. Pendleton said that she voted against a similar elephant ban that was proposed and failed in 2001.
"But I got a lot of mail and phone calls, much of it from children, following that vote and so I decided to take a second look," she said. "There was some evidence of possible abuse during training."
Joined by animal activists and advocates, Pendleton proposed the ban. A public hearing before the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation in late February drew more than 70 people. During three hours of testimony, supporters said the bill was needed because elephants are abused in circus environments.
Circus representatives, however, told the committee that they are closely monitored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and must follow strict care and training guidelines, including requirements set for sleeping, eating and socializing.
According to the bill passed, state animal welfare officials would parallel the same inspections and use the same care regulations that federal officials use. Norma Worley, head of the Animal Welfare Division of the Department of Agriculture, said that each organization bringing elephants into the state would register with Animal Welfare and a set of standards would be created. The state veterinarian would then spot-check the circuses.
Worley has had training through the Humane Society of the U.S. on circuses, including training segments on elephants.
Worley said "There are not that many elephants that come into the state [each year] - less than a dozen probably - but there are enough to make this important."
The bill was hailed by Maine Friends of Animals as landmark legislation.
"We are very encouraged that other states are likely to take Maine's lead and also pass legislation that will end the plight of these magnificent, intelligent and social animals," said Robert Fisk, Jr., MFOA president.
MFOA has maintained during its three-year campaign for legislation that circus elephants are treated inhumanely and, as a species that roams 20 miles a day in the wild, that they spend most of their lives in chains.
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Legislature enacts bill on treatment of performing elephants
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
AUGUSTA (AP) -- Call it the elephant law. Maine has become the first state to pass legislation that addresses how performing elephants are treated while in the state.
The Legislature has given its approval to a bill that directs the Maine Department of Agriculture to adopt rules for the care of elephants that reflect those used by the federal government.
The final bill is a watered-down version of an earlier proposal to ban elephants from circuses, traveling exhibitions or zoos in the state.
Animal activists say legislation was needed because elephants are abused in circus environments. But circus officials have said that circuses are closely monitored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and must follow
strict care and training guidelines for elephants.
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Massachusetts SB 184 was heard on Tuesday in Boston in the Criminal Justice Committee. Both sides were well represented.
If passed, this bill would prohibit all: bears, non-domesticated cats (lions, tigers etc), elephants, and non human primates.
The committee is asking for as much information as possible from individuals that support this bill. They are asking for individuals and corporations that will be affected by this bill to write and voice there support.
They are also interested in hearing citizens of Massachusetts that aren't stakeholders, but rather citizens to write and voice their support as well.
Please take the time and write a quick note to these legislators, letting them know that you support SB 184: the Prohibition of Exotic Animals in Circuses & Traveling Shows.
Please pass the message along to others you know, especially residents of Massachusetts.
Please write to:
Ms. Gabrielle Viator
Director of Public Policy
c/o Committee on Criminal Justice
State House Room 74
Boston, MA 02133
gviator@senate.state.ma.us
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Ferrets could win their freedom
April 2003
By Carla Hall
(c) 2003, Los Angeles Times
This could be the year that ferrets win their freedom in California. No more sneaking into the veterinarian's office or supping surreptitiously on cat food. If state lawmakers approve, ferrets may be granted amnesty in the last place on the North American continent that still outlaws them.
And it's not just ferrets that could get new protection.
This also could be the year that California lawmakers ban the declawing of cats, prevent unweaned birds from being sold by pet stores and bar shelters from sending animals to research institutions. Another bill would make it a crime to keep calves and pregnant sows cramped in crates. And one piece of legislation would toughen the existing law against cockfighting, ratcheting up the maximum fine from $5,000 to $20,000.
Every year, the California Legislature tackles a small complement of animal welfare bills. This year there have been at least 10, although some have already died in committee. And though the issues may be more quirky than weighty, they stir passions and provoke ribbing among lawmakers. Even howling, on occasion.
A couple of years ago, when Assemblyman Ken Maddox presented a bill regulating dog breeding, he was greeted with bipartisan barking on the Assembly floor. "It sounded like the inside of a kennel," he said. "Hey, as long as I got their votes." He did.
California is an animal-rights activist's dream. Measuring by legislation getting governors' signatures, "California is far and away the best state in the country," said Sara Amundson, deputy director and legislative director of the Doris Day Animal League, headquartered in Washington, D.C. "As far as baseline protection for animals goes, California is the best."
A bill passed in 2000 made the state the first to bar manufacturers and testing companies from using animals for testing when a scientifically valid alternative method of testing is available.
"Very few states regulate research animals, circus animals, sanctuary animals, dealers and breeders," said Nicole Paquette, general counsel of the Animal Protection Institute, which is headquartered in Sacramento, California's capital, but lobbies for animal legislation across the country. Paquette said when her group gets turned down in other states, "what we always hear is, 'Only in California.' "
This year, if the ban on declawing passes, California will be the only state with such a statewide restriction. If the bill banning confining crates for pigs and calves passes, California will be the only state to outlaw them for both kinds of animals, according to Gene Bauston, president of Farm Sanctuary, the group that brought the bill to its author, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock. New Jersey is considering a ban on 2-foot-wide crates for veal calves, and Florida recently banned gestation crates for pigs through a ballot initiative.
Animal bills cut across lines of party, gender and age to connect with the one thing that nearly every member of the Legislature is or once was: a pet owner.
"There's usually a personal connection," said Richard Katz, a former Democratic Assembly leader who spent 16 years in the Legislature and watched such bills come and go - or, in the case of ferret legislation, never quite go.
This session, the mantle of ferret defender goes to state Sen. Dede Alpert, a 12-year veteran of the Legislature who previously sat in the Assembly. "I would hope I'm better known for work I've done in education than for this bill," she said.
But the animal lovers who watch her ferret bill and others affecting animals follow the process intensely and lobby hard. "They are just passionate," Alpert said.
So are the people who oppose such legislation. Hunters were fervently against Assemblyman Joe Nation's bill to outlaw the hunting of mourning doves and white-winged doves. "We've gotten pretty nasty e-mails and calls," said Nation.
He hadn't seen his bill as controversial - "You can't argue that people go out to shoot them and eat them" - but he withdrew it before it reached the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. "I'm a political realist," said Nation, who estimated he didn't have the necessary committee votes.
Ellen Corbett, an Assemblywoman from San Leandro and the former mayor of that city, introduced a bill prohibiting the sale of unweaned baby birds from pet stores to the public. Even before the bill arrived in a committee, she had received 300 e-mails and letters in support of it, Corbett said.
She had introduced the measure after hearing "horror stories" of young birds mishandled by well-intentioned owners lacking the expertise to care for them. Her bill is headed to the Assembly floor.
The bill this session that could have perhaps the biggest effect on pet owners - and their furniture - was introduced by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, former mayor of West Hollywood. It would forbid declawing of all cats in California, from house pets to lions. The procedure, called an onychectomy, amputates each of the cat's toes at the last joint.
"I found out how painful it could be for small cats," said Koretz, whose Web site identifies him as an opponent of animal cruelty. "Some cats totally change their behavior. They bite more, they stop using the litter box - and it's because of the pain."
The California Veterinary Medical Association opposes legislation on the procedure, saying it is an issue between cat owner and veterinarian. Many veterinarians counsel cat owners to try alternatives to declawing, but would rather declaw a cat than see its owner get rid of the pet.
"As a general surgeon who has done numerous declaws, I don't think this is any more painful than a spay or a neuter," said William Grant II, a second-generation veterinarian in Garden Grove and past president of the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association. "What was done in declaws 30 years ago is light-years away from now. They were doing things with dog-claw trimmers that had the potential for disfigurement. We use a laser in our practice, and these cats are walking the day we do the procedure."
Koretz's other potentially controversial bill would prohibit shelters from selling or donating animals to institutions for research. The practice already is illegal in many cities and counties in the state.
Some opponents say the bill would double the number of animals to be killed, because it would mean that research facilities would turn to breeders for animals, and shelters would probably euthanize most of theirs.
Koretz's third animal bill this session called for a ban on hunting bears by tracking them with hounds, which force the animals into trees so they can be shot. That bill didn't survive the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. "I get grief in general because I'm willing to do bills that might seem frivolous to some," said Koretz, who once introduced a successful bill to improve wages and working conditions for sheepherders. "I don't think animal cruelty is small and frivolous."
Assemblyman Mark Leno had no trouble with the resolution animal advocates asked him to sponsor this year that proclaimed Feb. 25 to be Spay Day USA - a day for Californians to either spay and neuter their cats and dogs or contribute to organizations that provide such services. "It is about education so pet owners can be as responsible as possible," he said of the resolution, which recurs annually.
But Leno, an Assembly freshman and the owner of three parrots, had a tougher time with a bill that would have stiffened regulations on rodeos. It was voted down in committee.
Hancock's bill making it a misdemeanor to confine a calf or a pregnant pig not only faces opposition from powerful agricultural groups, but also ventures into new territory: the treatment of animals raised for food. Hancock's bill does not require that animals roam free, but it does provide that they get a little more room to move. For instance, veal calves hemmed into crates - immobilization makes for tender meat - would have to be able to turn around and lie down in a natural position. The bill passed the Assembly's Committee on Public Safety and this week faces the Agriculture Committee.
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Circus can survive without elephants
York County Coast Star Online Edition
To write a letter to the editor please email dking@seacoastonline.com
An elephant is a familiar site at York's Wild Animal Kingdom and the Shriners' Circus. A bill before the state legislature could change that.
Do captive elephants suffer? The answer depends on who you talk to. Those opposing the legislation use the slippery slope argument: if we ban captive elephants, your cattle at the Fryeburg Fair will be next. Newspaper advertisements claim this is a bill pushed for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
On the other side are those who deny this is a PETA bill, who have collected footage of elephants enduring horrible punishments while being trained - beaten until bleeding and electrocuted. Footage of elephants attacking their trainers, and rampaging in the street until shot dead.
The fact is this is an emotional issue for either side: For those who have witnessed abuse, and for those who see their elephants as part of an extended family.
What we do know: Elephants are remarkably intelligent, thoughtful and sensitive creatures with extraordinarily close family bonds. Both sides agree on that.
While they have worked with and for humans for centuries, elephants are not domesticated. Whether it's to forage or by choice, an elephant in its natural habitat will walk 20 miles a day. That's something it cannot do confined in a box car or trailer for as long as it takes the circus to reach its destination.
There is an argument that the best way to educate the people to the plight of endangered wild elephants is to have a first-hand look at the creature. Does the opportunity to experience or become educated by seeing a live elephant justify suffering on the animal's part?
Can we justify the confinement of an elephant to entertain ourselves in an amusement park or circus?
It's easy to dismiss animal rights legislation. The mere phrase "animal rights" often conjures images of reactionaries putting the plight of animals above human welfare.
Legislators should not be quick to dismiss this bill. Rather, they should look closely at evidence provided by both sides of the argument. They should ask questions. They should be thoughtful.
If passed, the circus can still come to town, even if Maine bans elephants in captivity. Ringling Brothers might skip the Pine Tree State, but Ringling only came to Maine in recent years as a thank-you, after the legislation defeated a similar bill two years ago.
There is another thought to consider: How we treat animals in our care is often indicative of how we treat our fellow human beings.
Maine should be elephant free in 2003.
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Performing circus pachyderms make for bad showmanship
Copyright 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Maine could - and should - become the first state in the nation to prohibit the use of elephants in circuses.
We support a bill now before state lawmakers that would ban the use of elephants in traveling exhibitions in Maine. "An Act to Prevent Cruelty to Elephants" would prohibit elephants from performing tricks, fighting or participating in a performance to amuse or entertain an audience.
It's not amusing or entertaining to see these magnificent animals, which can roam for miles in the wild, confined to trailers or shackled to walls for about 90 percent of their lives. It's disturbing to know that some are beaten or drugged into submission. And the 10,000-pound beasts can be a public safety threat if they go on a rampage, as they sometimes are known to do.
A spokesman for Ringling Bros. said at a hearing on the bill last week that the circus would no longer come to Maine if it can't bring its elephants. Opponents of the bill say circuses give Maine children a rare opportunity to see live elephants.
We don't oppose displaying animals in zoos and circuses under conditions where they can thrive. However, we maintain it's no benefit for the state's children to see elephants condemned to live in such an unnatural way as circus performers. Ringling Bros. will find that many Maine families will be even happier to attend the circus if they cut elephants from the show.
Other states are considering similar legislation to protect elephants. The Legislature should pass this bill and make Maine a leader in taking steps to protect these massive but vulnerable creatures.
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Laws to help circus elephants (Queensland, Australia)
Copyright 2003 Nationwide News Pty Limited
March 24, 2003
CIRCUS elephants will never be lonely again. New laws have been introduced to ensure they always have a mate.
Changes to Queensland's compulsory code of practice for circuses will force them to house elephants together after reports the animals can become depressed when alone.
Under the State Government code, circus elephants will only be allowed to be separated if they constantly fight but even then circuses will have to ensure they are still able see each other from their separate enclosures.
Circuses which fail to meet the new laws face fines of up to $22,500.
The change follows the case of Arna, a circus elephant who allegedly suffered depression and loneliness after the death of her companion Bambi in 1996.
Animal rights groups claimed cruelty against the circus for allowing a herd animal such as Arna to be kept alone.
The circus denied Arna was ill-treated or lonely and the case is still before the NSW courts.
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Bill on circus elephants draws crowd; People on both sides of the proposed ban pack a legislative hearing and offer opposing views of the way circuses treat the animals.
BYLINE: SUSAN M. COVER, Blethen Maine News Service
DATELINE: AUGUSTA
A bill intended to ban circus elephants from entering Maine drew applause from animal lovers and jeers from circus fans Wednesday during a public hearing before a legislative committee. More than 70 people packed the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee hearing during 3 1/2 hours of testimony. The bill, "An Act to Prevent Cruelty to Elephants," seeks to prohibit the use of elephants in traveling exhibitions. It would not allow elephants in Maine to "perform tricks, fight or participate in a performance for the amusement or entertainment of an audience."
"Certainly I don't want to keep circuses out of Maine," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Peggy Pendleton, D-Scarborough. "Just remove this act. I don't find it amusing at all."
Opponents and proponents of the bill passed around "elephant hooks," which are devices used during training. The hook displayed by supporters of the bill looks like a wooden baseball bat with a metal hook at the end, and is longer and heavier than the one Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey says it now uses.
One side described the hooks as something used to guide the 10,000-pound animals, and the other said they are an instrument of punishment. If the bill becomes law, Maine will be the first state in the nation to prohibit the use of elephants in circuses, said Cassie Folk, manager of government relations for Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros.
Although the bill would allow circuses without elephants, it would mean that Ringling Bros. would no longer come to Maine, Folk said.
"Our elephants travel, they meet new people," said John Kirtland, Ringling Bros.' executive director for animal stewardship. "They are the most enriched animals on the face of the earth."
Folk said Tennessee, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts are considering similar legislation.
This isn't the first time that such a bill has come before the Maine Legislature. Former state Rep. Christopher Muse, D-South Portland, said he introduced a similar bill three years ago.
"I won't pretend to say there aren't bills in front of you that are more important than this," he said.
But he and others are bothered by what they consider to be abuse of elephants when they are trained and transported as part of a circus act. "Moving them from town to town to town is, in and of itself, abusive," Muse said.
Some who oppose the bill say circuses give Maine children a rare opportunity to see elephants in person. Circuses are strictly regulated at the state, federal and sometimes local level, they say.
"Elephant exhibitions are vital because they allow circuses and exhibited elephants to act as ambassadors for their friends in the wild," said Gordon MacKay, a spokesman for the Florida-based Outdoor Amusement Business Association.
Those who support the bill repeatedly said they are not affiliated with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Robert Fisk Jr., president and director of Maine Friends of Animals, said he represents a "strong, statewide campaign to end the abuse of elephants in Maine."
Fisk criticized newspaper advertisements that ran this weekend opposing the bill. The ads warn that the "fanatics" who support the bill will also go after paper mills, fishing, restaurants, pet owners and tourism.
"This ad personifies how the circus industry approaches the issue, void of any discussion of the cruelty issues or the animals they supposedly care about," he said.
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Bill would ban circus elephants in Maine
By Bonnie Washuk, Staff Writer
Lewiston Sun Journal
February 19, 2003
Circus elephants live an abusive life being chained, tied or crammed in small railroad cars traveling to the next town.
That was the argument given Wednesday for a proposal that would ban circus elephants from performing in Maine.
Many citizens showed up wearing buttons protesting the use of elephants in circuses.
Opponents disagreed. They said circus elephants are well cared for, get to travel and meet new people. The bill would not stop abuse to circus animals, it would only ban them from Maine, they argued. If the bill passed, they warned of "a slippery slope," that other animal bans would follow.
It will now be up to the legislative Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee to recommend to the full House and Senate whether Maine should be the first state to ban circus elephants.
Sen. Peggy Pendleton, D-Scarborough, sponsored the bill explaining that two years ago she voted against it, but then received "piles and piles of mail from young people" who wanted the law.
Since then she discovered elephants are migratory animals that walk 20 miles a day in the wild, something they're denied in the circus. Pendleton said she's not opposed to circuses, "but it's one act that isn't necessary."
Carol Buckley, the founding director of an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, agreed. For 20 years she was a circus elephant trainer. "I witnessed and participated in the traditional elephant training procedures. What I've learned is that type of training is abuse."
Buckley painted a grim life for circus elephants. Because they're often chained and tied, they develop premature foot disease and arthritis. "You see neurotic behavior in circus elephants." When they sway or bob their heads, that is a result of boredom and frustration, the same kind of behavior displayed by mental health patients, Buckley said. For the safety of the public, elephants have to be confined often. "Think about being 8,000 or 10,000 pounds and having to balance yourself in chains while the trailer is moving," she said.
Hooks and bats are used to poke, stab and hit the elephant. "That's the job of the trainer. And the trainer makes sure he can hide the abuse," she said. Bruises caused by trainers are covered by "wonder dust" so that the audience doesn't know, Buckley said.
Elephant researcher Jane Garrison said Maine does not tolerate animal cruelty and she cited the fact that the state already bans dog racing and cockfighting. The performance of circus elephants should also be outlawed, she added.
Dr. Ted Friend, a professor of Animal Science at Texas A&M University who has studied circus elephants, disagreed. He has concluded that circuses "are not inherently detrimental to the welfare of elephants. Elephants readily load onto trucks or trains. Being transported to new locations is consistent with an elephant's nomadic lifestyle." Training, performing, putting up and taking down tents is important stimuli, Friend said.
Wayne McCary was among those who opposed the bill. McCary is the chief executive officer of the Eastern States Exposition, the former director of the Cumberland County Civic Center, and for 25 years has been a consultant to the Kora Temple Shrine circuses.
Each year nearly 100,000 people attend the Shrine circus in Portland, Lewiston, Augusta, Bangor and Presque Isle. "It is one of the rare opportunities that young people ever have an opportunity to see these magnificent animals." Through his association with the Maine circuses, "there has never been a single (abuse) incident involving an elephant in this state," McCary said. "All of those of you involved in the fair industry, and every farmer, should pay great attention to this bill ... This is clearly a special interest bill that will ultimately lead to compromising the integrity of every fair in this state."
Elephants have more regulation and more protection at the federal level than even children, he said. He disagreed that circus elephant abuse is widespread, and warned of the consequences if the bill passes. "No state in America has passed legislation of this magnitude. ... This is a tradition that goes back 135 years."
Animal behaviorist John Kirkland of Ringling Bros. said they have 61 elephants, the largest herd in North America. Their elephants are well cared for, and when transported they ride in specially-designed cars. By going to new places, circus elephants "meet new people and have new stimuli." That's why, he said, they outlive other elephants.
The proposal before Maine lawmakers "is not a solution," he said.
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Course at The Environmental Law Center in Vermont offers a course in Animal Rights Law
Course dates:
July 7-17, 2003/Monday-Thursday/1:00-4:00pm
Course description:
Animal Rights Law: Nonhuman animals have no legal rights. We will discuss some current legal protections, standing, sources, and characteristics of fundamental rights-why humans are entitled to them, why nonhumans are denied them, whether they should be limited to humans and, if not, what nonhuman animals should be entitled to under common law, and to which legal rights should they be entitled.
Professor bio:
Steven M. Wise, President, Center for the Expansion of Fundamental Rights, Inc. and practicing animal rights attorney for 25 years. Mr. Wise represents organizations that seek institutional changes in the place of nonhuman animals in our law and individuals whose companion animals have been injured or killed. He has taught Animal Rights Law at Vermont Law School for 12 years. He has also taught at Harvard Law School, John Marshall Law School, and Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. He is the author of Drawing the Line: Science and the Case for Animal Rights and Rattling the Cage-Toward Legal Rights for Animals.
Web link: http://www.vermontlaw.edu/community/elc/elcsucou01.cfm#arl
For more information or to register for this course contact the Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law School at (800) 227-1395 ext. 2201 or e-mail elcinfo@vermontlaw.edu.
