Headline: <LJ222>Circuses under scrutiny of animal-rights protesters<D
Publish Date: 05/01/1995

Jules Reinhart

Staff Reporter

Walking a tightrope these days, circuses are trying to avoid a fall 
to animal-rights protesters who are setting up shop outside 
performances nationwide.

Minneapolis' Shrine Circus drew up to 20 protesters at each of the 
nine performances held Wednesday through Sunday at the Target Center. 
Protesters included members of the University Student Organization 
for Animal Rights.

Circuses are cruel to the animal performers, said protesters, citing 
chains, cages and training methods used with the animals. Circus 
advocates said the activists are misinformed and are creating 
controversy.

<%-2>``The protesters have never seen these (animals) before. How can 
they say they're abused?'' said Keith Brassfield, the Shrine Circus' 
big cat caretaker. ``They are your livelihood. You wouldn't abuse 
you're livelihood.''<%0>

Animals that have been abused exhibit certain behaviors, like 
cowering and salivating excessively, Brassfield said. ``You can tell 
just by looking at these elephants that they're not abused,'' he 
said.

But protesters said that depends on the definition of abuse. Abuse 
extends beyond beating to practices like requiring the animal to 
stand in a truck for hours at a time, they said. And the animal's 
high value is no deterrent to abuse, they said.

``The animals are a very large investment and to get the investment 
back, (handlers) have to work those animals even harder,'' said 
Freeman Wicklund, president of SOAR.

Living a life under lights in chains or a cage is unnatural and 
causes neurosis, Wicklund said. He cited the continual swaying of 
circus elephants. ``Elephants do sway in the wild, but when it 
becomes constant and repetitive it is a sign of neurosis,'' Wicklund 
said.

Unhappy animals make dangerous animals, protesters said. In the last 
five years, captive elephants have killed at least nine people, wrote 
Sen. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., in a letter to Bob Dole, R-Kan., opposing 
circuses. Activists attribute the deaths to cruel treatment.

A popular argument for circuses is that they teach children the value 
of endangered animals. But that is false, said Nicolas Atwood, a 
Macalester College senior who protested the circus.

``What kind of an image does seeing an elephant on a ball or a bear 
on a bicycle create? I don't think seeing them do that encourages 
people to protect their habitat,'' Atwood said.

<%-2>National Geographic and the Discovery Channel are places to 
learn about animals in their natural habitats, said Katie Fedor, a 
St. Thomas University sophomore who also protested.<%0>

<%-2>``I watched 'Wild Kingdom' as a child, and I developed a great 
appreciation for animals. I learned how they acted in the wild and 
that they should be kept in the wild,'' Fedor said.<%0>

Caging animals promotes an attitude of human superiority, Wicklund 
said. ``Wild animals are forced to do these pathetic tricks. That 
doesn't teach respect. That teaches dominance,'' he said.

<%-2>People learn about other cultures successfully through books and 
videos and can learn successfully about animals the same way, Atwood 
said. ``We can't transport all the wonders of the world to the Twin 
Cities,'' he said.<%0>

<%-2>But that attitude is irresponsible because circuses are 
essential for preserving species, said Sgt. Tim Davison, an 
apprentice elephant trainer turned Minneapolis police officer.<%0>

``When someone comes along and says the tigers are endangered and are 
losing their habitat the kids are going to say `so what.' A videotape 
just isn't real. Superman is on a videotape,'' Davison said.

Wild animals can be cared for successfully in circuses for the 
benefit of children and the animals, trainers said. The animals get 
24-hour attention and care and have room to play and socialize, 
Brassfield said.

The cats have play cages while traveling and larger 1,600 square- 
foot pens at home, Brassfield said.

<%-2>While on the road, the elephants run free in electronic fenced 
pens and have a pasture at home, said Joe Frisco, the elephants' 
superintendent.<%0>

<%-2>With proper care, captivity does not cause neurosis, and the 
elephants that killed people are exceptions, Davison said. ``Animals 
are just like human beings. Why did the elephant kill the trainer in 
Honolulu? Why did Jeffrey Dahmer eat 15 people?'' he said.<%0>

Circus animal trainers get involved for the privilege of working with 
the animals, not for money, Davison said.

<%-2>``The animals are treated with respect. When I was training to 
become a trainer the one thing drilled into me was the animal comes 
first. They get watered and fed before we even get a cup of coffee,'' 
Davison said.<%0>

<%-2>Part of respect is never forcing an animal to do a trick, Frisco 
said. The tricks the animals do in the ring are only adaptations of 
wild behavior, he added. ``Elephants stand on their hind legs in the 
wild to reach trees. They play all over each other,'' he said.<%0>

Cruel training methods are a primary complaint of protesters, who 
said they saw animals beaten on circus video footage taken by People 
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Elephant Alliance, a 
California-based elephant advocacy group.

But animal trainers said the accusations are false and the animals 
learn through positive reinforcement, not punishment.

The Shrine Circus featured an act with Frisco and a 7-year-old male 
elephant called Cowboy Joe. The elephant shakes his body to Chubby 
Checker's ``Twist'' song, nods his head and blows through his trunk 
on command.

<%-2>Teaching the tricks involved no cruelty, Frisco said. He placed 
a burlap sack on Cowboy Joe's back and when he shook it of, Frisco 
would say a command and then give him a treat. After enough 
repetition, Cowboy Joe shook on command, Frisco said. <%0>

Disreputable circuses in the past led to the perceived cruelty of 
animals today, trainers said. Stringent federal guidelines, spot 
inspections and an internal industry organization prevent animal 
cruelty, Frisco said.

Animal cruelty can be a matter of definition, Frisco said. Protesters 
had a leashed dog with them Saturday morning. ``They were making him 
let everyone pet him, making him sit there on a leash. To me, that's 
the same thing,'' Frisco said.