Not everyone is thrilled that the circus is in town.
At issue is the treatment of the performing animals, especially the seven elephants that will be among the star attractions when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus opens tonight at Arco Arena for the first of nine shows in four days.
"If people knew what went on behind the big top, they should be outraged about the cruelty that goes on, and they should not patronize any circus that uses animals, especially Ringling Brothers," said Nicole Paquette, senior vice president of the Sacramento animal welfare group Born Free U.S.A.
The circus has long maintained that it adheres to strict animal welfare laws and has a clean record in dealing with its elephants.
Born Free U.S.A. is one of four plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the circus contending that the treatment of the elephants is cruel and should be considered a violation of the Endangered Species Act.
A recent Born Free press release calls the lawsuit "a landmark legal showdown against the circus giant." The group, which is also a critic of animals kept in zoos, will have protesters outside Arco while the circus is in Sacramento.
Paquette says elephant handlers wield a bull hook – the handlers call it a guide – to get the animal to perform tricks by inflicting pain with a device shaped like a sharpened fire poker.
Paquette, who attended a pre-show presentation of the animals on Wednesday, will be a witness in the lawsuit, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 20 in Washington, D.C.
Each handler used a bull hook during the animal walk Wednesday morning.
Ringling Bros. did not respond directly to questions about the legal case. It provided an animal care attendant to answer the allegations.
"The animal activists come after us because they get more media attention for their cause," said Aaron Morris, a fourth-generation elephant handler who has worked for Ringling Bros. for four years. "We are governed by federal, state and local animal welfare regulations, and we have the best animal care record among circuses."
To critics, that's not saying much. They say the treatment of circus elephants and other performing animals is a relic of a less enlightened era.
"To see these elephants still be part of the circus act, it's just sad," said Rick Johnson, executive director for the Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "It doesn't need to happen."
After watching the elephants on Wednesday, Paquette said, "When I saw them, I knew they had been chained inside their train cars for approximately 60 hours straight" while traveling from an appearance in Everett, Wash.
Morris said the train cars hold three elephants and are 10 feet wide by 90 feet long – large enough for the animals to turn around and lie down.
Pat Derby, founder of the Performing Animal Welfare Society based in Galt, said the circus lifestyle "is not a component of a happy life for an elephant."
PAWS has 11 rescued elephants on a separate 100-acre property in San Andreas.
"They need to move and have stimulation. They need to be browsing, foraging, socializing. They need to have reason for movement," Derby said.
Call The Bee's Blair Anthony Robertson, (916) 321-1099.
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