CBS4 Special Report
MIAMI
Jennifer Santiago, Reporting

Original Article (with video documenting abuses)

(CBS4 News) MIAMI They call it the greatest show on earth. But some animal rights activists say this circus is nothing more than a colorful cover for torture, and one former Ringling Brothers elephant keeper is speaking out about the elephant abuse he says he witnessed, and showing the video he also says proves it.

Holly Bowman, a captive animal specialist with a master's degree in animal behavior, showed CBS4 a video compilation of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey elephant handlers. Hitting, poking, and disciplining elephants, both old and young.

Some of the video dates back to 1998, but some was filmed just months ago in California by an undercover investigator working for PETA.
“You know the beatings occur behind the scenes,” said Bowman, “They keep the weapons in front of the elephants in the ring to remind them they will be beaten if the tricks are not performed properly.”

Holly and the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida prepared fliers and banners to protest the arrival of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus to South Florida.

Elephants in the wild travel more than 40 miles a say in sharp contrast you can see they spend 90% of their lives in these heavy chains no more than a step or two.

Tom Rider worked with Ringling Brothers for two and a half years as a barn man. He left the circus in November of 1999. “An elephants skin is as thin as a human's,” Rider says. “One little snag from the bull hook will make them bleed.”

Rider was left with a bleeding heart after witnessing what he says were countless incidents of abuse.

“Everyday an elephant is hit with a bull hook which is three and a half foot long and shaped like a fireplace poker,” Rider says. “They are hit punched with them. Break them over their heads um. They are not tools they are not guides. These are weapons.”

Rider says one of his former co-workers was this man featured in a Ringling souvenir brochure, Trainer Troy Metzler. “Ringling calls him Dr. Hook cause he uses the hook so much we have one here where he hits the elephant right on the trunk.”

Ringling doesn't deny the Man in a video Rider provides is Troy Metzler, but a Ringling spokesman said “He was reprimanded”. But in sworn testimony to Congress Rider recalled how He saw elephants disciplined every single day by Ringling Brothers Employees. “If you think hooking an elephant under the chin and yanking him like that, or under the trunk, is a rightful use of that weapon? No. It is a weapon to create pain and fear because you broke it with it.”

Rider now he travels the country, his expenses paid by various animal rights groups, though he says he receives no salary. He travels to raise awareness about these gentle giant creatures who belong in the wild, not confined in chains

“Behind the glitz and glamour of Ringling Brothers”, Bowman says, “really lies a world of untold animal suffering and we believe the public the residents of South Florida would be appalled and shocked to know the animals treatment.”

Ringling acknowledges at least three baby elephants; Kenny, Ricardo and Benjamin have died in its care since 1998. The USDA closed its investigation into the death of Benjamin without taking enforcement action even though its investigator wrote in a report that “at the time when two elephants were allowed to swim in a pond....there wasn't a sufficient number of trained employees present ...which resulted in the death of Benjamin." The report went on to state: “and that harmed contributed to Benjamin's death by poking the animal with an ankus.

More recently, Ringling euphonized 8 month old Ricardo on august 4th 2004. In video taken by Ringling of Ricardo's birth right here in Florida, his mother was chained during labor.

In a telephone interview, Darren Johnson admitted baby Ricardo sustained leg fractures, telling CBS4 News “He fell while playing on a pedestal.” But Tom, Holly and PETA say he fell while training, not playing, on a circus pedestal.

The USDA is still investigating Ricardo's death.

In a written statement Ringling categorically denies abusing its elephants, saying “Ringling Brothers is one of the planet's most committed animal advocates and stewards. Our animals are the stars of our shows, and as such they receive superstar treatment 24/7.”

But these animal rights activist don't buy it, and don't want you to buy a ticket to the "Greatest Show on Earth". Bowman says “As an animal behaviorist I can tell you that the results that you see in the ring will not be produced by positive reinforcement. It’s just not possible. The reward is far too small and the results far too great.”

Tom, along with the ASPCA and several other animal rights organizations, have filed a federal law suit against Ringling Brothers under the Endangered Species act. They aren't asking for money, they just want Ringling to stop using these endangered Asian elephants in its circus act.

Three Broward County cities, including Hollywood, have ordinances that either prohibit the use of bull hooks or ban animal acts altogether. No city in Miami-Dade County has any comparable law.