In response to Janice Aria’s letter, I am greatly disturbed by her defense of the circus’s treatment of its animals.
They were bringing awareness of the $270,000 fine the U.S. Department of Agriculture just charged “The Greatest Show on Earth” for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The fine is the largest in the history of the act, signed into law in 1966.
The USDA fined Ringling Bros. that amount for continually forcing sick elephants to perform, using the same wheelbarrows to feed tigers as well as haul away their waste and for using rusted cages with splintered floors to contain big cats. Investigators also found instances where elephants’ faces were cut open by sharp edges found inside their transport trailers.
Also, Aria claims the animals are “accustomed to the training methods ... used at Ringling Bros.,” but I doubt that any animal could ever become accustomed to being struck repeatedly with a bullhook, a tool equivalent to a fireplace poker with a hook at one end.
Kenneth Feld, the CEO of Feld Entertainment (the parent company of Ringling Bros.), acknowledged the use of bullhooks by the circus’s elephant trainers as a way to force compliance.
Janice Aria has made a lot of false claims and has been very disingenuous in her letter, and I encourage everyone to do some research on their own to discover what really goes on behind the scenes of the circus.
There are numerous reports and undercover videos on the Internet that show that Aria is not being truthful in saying that “caring for our animals is a top priority.” Money is.
—Nathan Barna, third-year music education student