PETA seeks to keep elephants out of upcoming circus

SALT LAKE CITY — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Mayor Ralph Becker, asking him to help prevent "at least four" elephants the group says are "lame" from performing this week with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The letter, received by the mayor's office Friday, relates to a controversy earlier this month in Sacramento, where PETA officials say an independent exotic-animal veterinarian inspected the elephants performing at Arco Arena and "found crippling lameness consistent with arthritis and other problems."

"(The veterinarian) recommended that elephants Bonnie, Karen, Nicole and Minyak be exempted from performing physically strenuous tricks," the letter states.

With the show scheduled to run Wednesday through Sunday at EnergySolutions Arena, the group requested an audience with Becker "to discuss the importance of not allowing these animals to be forced to work" in Salt Lake City.

"Forcing elephants to perform uncomfortable tricks and painful contortions, despite the animals' ill health, is cruel, and it could be a death sentence," PETA director Debbie Leahy said. "Because (Ringling Bros.) won't take proper care of these elephants, we are asking Mayor Becker to use his authority to protect them."

City spokeswoman Lisa Harrison Smith said Becker will not be able to meet with PETA. Also, any action to prevent the animals from performing likely would fall outside the mayor's jurisdiction, Smith said.

The situation in Sacramento was different because the city council there passed an ordinance earlier this year stating that city animal care workers are allowed to inspect and monitor the care of circus animals when shows come to town, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Circus organizers challenged the veterinarian's opinion, questioning his objectivity. The vet, Mel Richardson, has appeared as an elephant expert at events organized by PETA, the newspaper reported.

Two days later, a second veterinarian gave a conflicting opinion of the elephants' condition. Freeland Dunker, a veterinarian at the Steinhart Aquarium and formerly senior veterinarian with the San Francisco Zoo, declared that three of the elephants were physically fit to perform and the fourth, Minyak, could perform in a limited role, the Sacramento Bee reported.

PETA has since sent letters to mayors of cities where the circus is performing in an effort to keep the elephants from having to perform. The letters, however, cite only Richardson's opinion and fail to mention Bunker's assessment.

On its website, www.peta.org/action/, PETA is asking its supporters to write to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack and demand that the U.S. Department of Agriculture confiscate any ailing elephants from the circus operators. It also has downloadable signs that can be used for protesting Ringling Bros. events.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus says its elephants are "healthy and well cared for by a team of full-time veterinarians, and each elephant receives regular, thorough medical examinations."

e-mail: jpage@desnews.com