From The Fund for Animals:
Today, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and its parent company, Feld Entertainment, Inc., will finally stand trial to face charges for the inhumane treatment of its Asian elephants in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The case has been more than eight years in the making.
In U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., The Fund for Animals and other animal welfare groups -- which together filed this groundbreaking lawsuit against the circus in 2000 -- will lay out overwhelming and tragic evidence demonstrating that circus employees used abusive training and discipline methods to control these highly endangered and extremely intelligent animals. Among the allegations, the circus is charged with routinely hitting the animals with sharp bullhooks and confining and chaining them for prolonged periods -- sometimes for days at a time while the animals travel between venues in cramped rail cars.
Their suffering has been -- and continues to be -- immense.
Together with our partners we have fought long and hard to get this case to court. Along the way, we were forced to fend off stall tactics and repeated attempts by Ringling Bros. to have the case dismissed. It's promising that the elephants finally have their day in court.
I encourage you to follow along as the trial progresses by reading daily courtroom updates from our legal team. And because it's costing several hundred thousand dollars to take on Ringling's army of corporate lawyers, I'd be grateful if you are able to make a special donation to The Fund for Animals today.
We know you join us in looking forward to the day these animals are out of harm's way.
Thank you for caring about animals.
Sincerely,
Michael Markarian
President
The Fund for Animals
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