Circus Pays Hefty Fine

Oklahoma-based Carson & Barnes Circus in May resolved the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s April 2015 complaint, according to USDA records. The circus admits no wrongdoing as part of the consent order. The USDA alleged that during a March 2014 fundraiser circus sponsored by Moolah Shriners in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Royal Hanneford Circus encouraged the crowd to stomp on metal bleachers, scaring three elephants being led from the arena to their enclosure.

The elephants briefly got loose on the arena’s lot where vehicles of circus employees and Shriners were parked, reports at the time said. The USDA alleged in the complaint that one elephant made its way between two trailers and sustained scrapes and cuts while another had superficial lacerations.

Several weeks later in Altoona, Pa., the USDA claims elephant handlers allegedly stopped to water the animals in a publicly accessible area while leading them from the performance area to their enclosure. An adult photographed a child standing behind the water-drinking elephants, which is a violation of federal regulations mandating sufficient distance or barriers between the elephants and the public.

The USDA’s complaint named the Florida-based Royal Hanneford Circus and Carson & Barnes, which leased the elephants to Royal Hanneford. San Francisco supervisors last year approved a ban on performances of wild animals or featuring them in movies, joining dozens of other places that frown upon using bears, big cats, elephants and monkeys for human entertainment.

Last month Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus’ last 11 touring elephants went into retirement at the 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida, well ahead of the circus’ previously stated goal of idling them by 2018.