THE BALLOON MAN

Circus wins major lawsuit
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
From:  fosters.com
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As regular readers know, we think children can learn a lot by visiting a zoo or circus. This does not mean every circus and every zoo is well run. But the ones done right offer youngsters a chance not afforded by the Animal Planet and the like, even on a hi-def flat-screen TV.

Our endorsements always run into objections by animal rights activists who point to examples of inhumane treatment. The most often referenced in recent years has involved former circus “barn man” Tom Rider and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

It seems every time we have urged parents to take their children to a circus, including those other than Ringling, the abuse supposedly witnessed by Rider is quoted in great detail.

As it turns out, Rider was lying through his teeth. Last week the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals agreed to pay the owners of Ringling, Feld Entertainment Inc., $9.3 million after earlier losing a lawsuit claiming the circus abused its circus elephants.

The suit had been brought by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but hinged on Rider’s testimony.

Rider cared for elephants in one of the circus’s traveling shows from 1997 to 1999. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said Rider lied about payments he received from various animal-rights groups beginning in 2000 and that he exaggerated his personal attachment to the animals.
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