Score One For Ringling Bros/Barnum and Bailey agains AR group! - Page 1

I thought people would find it interesting to see the lengths animal rights groups are willing to go to try to prosecute Barnum and Bailey for animal cruelty.

Fortunately, B&B had deep enough pockets to fight back and win. Most organizations/individuals faced with similar charges do not.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/animal-rights-group-pay-circus-9-3-million-013231394.html  

The judge declared Rider to be essentially a "paid plaintiff," finding that his only source of income during the previous eight years had been the animal-welfare groups involved in the case and media companies producing reports about it.

Feld Entertainment, in turn, sued the various animal welfare groups and Rider, accusing them of abuse of process, malicious prosecution and violation of federal racketeering laws through unfounded litigation.....

Kenneth Feld, chairman of Feld Entertainment, which says its shows are seen by 30 million people a year, called the original litigation an attempt to destroy a family-owned business.

"Animal activists have been attacking our family, our company, and our employees for decades because they oppose animals in circuses," he said in a statement. "This settlement is a vindication ... for the dedicated men and women who spend their lives working and caring for all the animals with Ringling Bros."

 

Hot damn. I'm no fan of circuses, but this sure made my day. Hope they kick the snot out of HSUS too. My girlfriend and I spend a mint helping out dogs, but we won't give a dime to these big bloated arrogant so-called humane groups. They pay their directors half a million bucks, try to trample the rights of decent folks who would take a bullet for their dogs, and hurt and kill a lot of animals. Then they sucker animal lovers into forking over their money. These groups are no better than the PETA wackos. Don't take my word for it. Check out Nathan Winograd's blogs for some of the sickening details. For example:

http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?page_id=166

Make sure you read through to the last paragraph, if you can stand it.

You want to help rescue dogs, pay directly to help individual dogs. Pay for a spay, a transport, a surgery to fix a hurt dog. Give your money directly to the vet or the transporter or a small group that you know personally. That way you know you did some good instead of funding some of the cruelest organizations on the face of this earth.

Thanks for posting, Sunsilver. You sure got your head on straight. Most folks mean well but they don't know squat about this stuff.

It may be a good thing that the AR group got put in their place, but it really is not a victory for the animals.
I like the circus as much as the next guy, but I got to say, when I got my lion years ago, I met with Gunther at the show, and I'll tell you the animals were NOT treated very nice.
Jabbed with sticks as they left their cages,elephants grabbed by the mouth with hooked canes NO, not very pleasant for them.

 The truth is usually in moderation,  There is always an element of truth on both sides, but then taken to an extreme view.  Most animal rights groups would only be happy if all animals were wild, never eaten, left totally alone.  This is of course not reasonable and not realistic.  And you have the other end of the spectrum who believe that animals are basically biological machines.  That they don't have any self awareness, no emotions and don't feel pain the same as you and I.  (well you, I would have to care to feel pain) and in reality the truth is some where in the middle.  But who gets all the attention is those extremists.  The ones who stand on each side and throw stones, they try to sway everyone to their side and if you don't side with them then you must be against them.  And therefore make your self a target also.  The only remedy is to take the power away from those fringe groups.

Jonrob, excellent post, and I agree with your sentiments whole heartedly.

An example of the extremes groups such this will go to was a bombing of Ringling thrucks during a performance at the Nasau Colliseum, NY in
2000. I was there with my acts working a rodeo the following weekend, and we had a bomb threat, which because of the attack on Ringling the previous weekend, LE including the bomb squad took very seriously. It was a nerve wracking weekend, to put it mildly.

One year PETA members were letting dogs out of crates and Xpens at an outdoor AKC conformation dog show in my state....So they feel it's the dogs 'rights' to fight with each other, get lost, or get hit by cars...just sick.  At least there are stil animal welfare organisations that have the animals and responsible people in mind.
http://www.petakillsanimals.com/ 
http://www.responsiblepetowners.org/
http://www.naiaonline.org/about-us/

Asian elephants have been used as draft animals for hundreds of years, and can pretty much be considered a domestic species. And if you've got an animal that weighs a couple of tons, you HAVE to have SOME method of controlling it!

The hook [ankus, bull hook] is the mahout’s most important tool. It should be with him at all times wken he is with the elephant, and he should know how to use it in such a way as to not injure the elephant. Beginning mahouts should be repeatedly told that the real purpose of the hook is not to cause pain but rather to apply strong, clear pressure to very particular control points that the elephant has been trained to react to (stop, turn left, turn right, kneel, stand still, etc.). The hook also extends the mahout’s reach - like doubling the length of his arm.

The hook should be of a suitable size and design for the mahout’s hand and for the size and nature of the elephant. The head should be on tight, and the handle should be neither broken nor slippery. The point should not be so sharp as to easily pierce the skin of the elephant.

I'm not that famiiar with elephant training, , but I can't see the ankus (bull hook), if used properly, as being any crueler than those horrible curb bits they use on Western horses! Watch what happens to the horse's mouth when when the cowboy comes to an abrupt halt  the next time you see a western on TV! 

People always make issues with tools they don't understand.  How many here use a pinch collar?  And how do most people react when they see one for the first time?  I see the pinch collar misused all the time.  But that doesn't mean it is a bad tool.  Heck I can misuse a hammer as a club but that doesn't make the hammer bad. 

Good points, Sunsilver and rtdmmcintyre.

Here's more info, from

http://www.humanewatch.org/

"The massive $9.3 million settlement by the ASPCA indicates that HSUS and other defendants could face tens of millions in damages if they are found to have acted illegally. Feld has stated that it spent $20 million dollars defending against the failed animal-rights litigation, and the RICO Act allows for triple damages.

“While HSUS has spent this holiday season raising money with tear-jerking ads featuring pet rescues, the group really ought to be asking for money to pay for their defense attorneys and shady dealings,” said CCF Executive Director Richard Berman. “This whole racketeering scheme reeks of something out of a mob drama.”

According to public polling, 71 percent of Americans mistakenly believe that HSUS is a pet shelter umbrella group, and 68 percent wrongly think that HSUS spends most of its money on grants to pet shelters. A recent survey of over 1,000 HSUS donors found that the vast majority gave to the group to help pet shelters or reduce pet euthanasia, and upon learning that HSUS gives just one percent of the money it raises to pet shelters, 80 percent of these donors felt HSUS misleads people.

“HSUS cynically scams pet-loving Americans into giving money based on the false impression that HSUS is an organization devoted to sheltering abused dogs and cats, when it doesn’t even run a single pet shelter,” said Berman. “Every dog gets its day—and in HSUS’s case, that day should be in federal court.”"
 

At least the HS gives 1% to local shelters.  Over here we still can't
be sure the RSPCA gives its local organisations even that much !
[Figures they say are "available" are so obfuscated its impossible
to work out if they pass on anything at all, except in general, centrally
organised projects.  If local branches want on-costs, or to build a new
kennel block, they appear to have to fund raise all by themselves.]