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Group Says Stress From Training, Travel May Have Played Role in Baby Elephant’s DeathFor Immediate Release: Contact: Santa Maria, Calif. --- This morning, PETA fired off a letter to Santa Maria Fair Park CEO Dennis Pearson, urging him not to host circuses like Carson & Barnes following the tragic death of a 5-year-old, endangered Asian elephant who was owned by the Carson & Barnes Circus. The elephant, named Jennie, died at a Hugo, Okla., facility after contracting a herpes virus. PETA points out that the stress of being sent on the road at just 16 months of age, apparently without her mother, and subjected to intense training sessions, demanding performances, and constant travel is likely to have compromised Jennie’s immune system and left her vulnerable to infection. PETA has called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate Jennie’s death. Elephants’ suffering is nothing new at Carson & Barnes. PETA recently obtained shocking video footage of Carson & Barnes trainers repeatedly attacking elephants with steel-tipped bullhooks as the animals scream and recoil in pain. The head trainer instructs the other handlers always to make sure that such beatings are severe and never carried out in public view. "The circumstances leading up to Jennie’s death are yet another indictment of Carson & Barnes and its long history of cruelty, abuse, and neglect of the animals in its care," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "In circuses, bullhooks, electric prods, whips, and chains rule the day, and to the people who wield these weapons, the suffering and deaths of animals are little more than the cost of doing business." Video footage of elephant beatings can be seen on PETA’s Web site Circuses.com. PETA’s letter to Dennis Pearson follows. June 2, 2004 Dennis Pearson, CEO Dear Mr. Pearson: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a nonprofit organization with more than 800,000 members and supporters dedicated to the protection of animals. We are writing to alert you to disturbing information concerning the Carson & Barnes Circus, which is scheduled to perform in Santa Maria at the Santa Maria Fair Park starting June 7. We ask that you kindly consider the important information contained in this letter and make the compassionate decision not to host Carson & Barnes, or any other circus with animal acts, on your property in the future. In April, Carson & Barnes’ 5-year-old, endangered Asian elephant named Jennie died after contracting an elephant herpes virus carried by African elephants. Jennie’s death might have been prevented if Carson & Barnes had followed even the most basic guidelines for elephant care. The circus subjected Jennie to the rigors of forceful training, performance, and travel at just 16 months of age, causing stress to her delicate immune system. Despite the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s recommendations that Asian and African elephants should not be caged together because of disease risks from this deadly virus, Carson & Barnes recklessly commingles the two species. A PETA investigator touring with the Carson & Barnes Circus recorded the enclosed video. Tim Frisco, the circus’s animal care director, is shown viciously attacking and shocking terrified elephants. Frisco instructs other trainers to hurt the elephants until they scream and to sink a sharp, metal bullhook into their flesh and twist it back and forth. Frisco also cautions that the beatings must be concealed from the public. Carson & Barnes paid a $400 stipulation for mishandling elephants in violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cited Carson & Barnes numerous times for failure to provide veterinary care, minimum space, shelter from the elements, adequate ventilation, and clean drinking water. Beatings and extreme confinement are a part of everyday life for animals in circuses. We hope that you agree that this abuse is unacceptable and must be stopped. I would be happy to answer any questions or supply additional information. You can contact me at 757-622-7382. I look forward to your reply. Sincerely, Nicole Meyer, Elephant Specialist enclosures: Carson & Barnes Circus elephant-training video and factsheet |
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