Friday, September 16, 2011

Circus skips elephant parade in Sacramento


Bryan Patrick / bpatrick@sacbee.com

Brian French feeds Banko, left, and Ziam on Thursday outside Power Balance Pavilion. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus trucked elephants from train to arena instead of staging its traditional "elephant walk," which drew the ire of animal-rights activists last year.

By Cynthia HubertFriday, Sep. 16, 2011
For possibly the first time in history, the elephants of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus skipped their public, trunk-to-tail walk through Sacramento following their arrival in town this week.
Instead, the pachyderms stepped off the train that delivered them to the capital and directly into trucks that took them to Power Balance Arena, where they are performing through Sunday.
Their relatively quiet arrival was in contrast to last year, when animal activists and city officials monitored every inch of their three-mile trek along Del Paso Boulevard to the arena. PETA members were ordered to leave the scene, and city officials later tangled with Ringling about whether four of its elephants were fit to perform.
The attention stemmed from the city's enforcement of a new ordinance that allowed officials to inspect and monitor the care of circus animals while in Sacramento.
This year, Ringling opted out of the parade that delights the public, said Tom Albert, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment Inc., which owns Ringling.


Bryan Patrick / bpatrick@sacbee.com

Lori Mitchell a handler for Ringling Bros for 12 years, plays around with Romeo the Zebra outside Power Balance Pavilion. September 15, 2011.
Read more:
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/16/3914464/circus-skips-elephant-parade-in.html#ixzz1Y70FETVk.

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