Thursday, November 10, 2011

Ag. board votes to keep elephant rides at San Diego County Fair

By Joe Tashfrom: delmartimes.net

Nov 8. 2011

Elephant rides will continue to operate at the San Diego County Fair for at least three more years under a split vote by the fair board at its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 8, in spite of a request by animal rights groups to ban the popular fairgrounds attraction.
The board of directors of the 22nd District Agricultural Association, which oversees operations at the state-owned Del Mar Fairgrounds, listened to more than two hours of testimony by supporters and opponents of the elephant rides before voting 4-3 to reconsider the issue following the 2014 run of the fair.
Board members Adam Day, Russ Penniman, Lisa Barkett and Frederick Schenk voted to keep the elephant rides for three more years, while directors Tom Chino, David Watson and David Lizerbram voted against the motion. Director Ruben Barrales was absent.
The issue arose in June, when a representative of the group Animal Defenders International addressed the board, asking for the elephant rides to be banned from the fair. The group presented a video, which it said was shot undercover at the Riverside County compound of Have Trunk Will Travel, the company that has run the fair’s elephant rides for 27 years. The group said the video showed trainers at Have Trunk Will Travel abusing elephants by striking them with a training tool called a “bull hook,” and shocking them with an electrical device.read more at:
http://www.delmartimes.net/2011/11/09/ag-board-votes-to-keep-elephant-rides-san-diego-county-fair/

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