THE BALLOON MAN

Circus boss condemns elephant groom

 

 

from:  northamptonchron.co.uk
Friday 23 November 2012
The owner of a circus elephant accused of allowing his staff to beat the animal said he was disgusted when he saw the footage of a groom striking her with a pitchfork.

Bobby Roberts, 69, who owns Bobby Roberts Super Circus, said the behaviour of the groom was “disgraceful and disgusting” and that he would never have condoned such actions.

Roberts, wearing a black jacket and purple waistcoat, told District Judge David Chinnery at Northampton Crown Court he had no knowledge of the behaviour towards the 58-year-old Asian elephant.

He said: “It’s disgraceful, disgusting. I can’t tell you what I would have done.

“The police would have been involved. Still now when I think about it, it goes through me, I just can’t believe it.”

Roberts and his wife Moira, 75, from Oundle, deny causing unnecessary suffering and failing to prevent an employee from repeatedly beating Anne.

The court has been shown footage filmed secretly by animal welfare group Animal Defenders International (ADI) of the animal being kicked and struck with a pitchfork several times by the groom at the circus’s winter quarters in Polebrook, Cambridgeshire, last year.
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http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/crime/circus-boss-condemns-elephant-groom-1-4516667