Posted 11/25/2014 7:21:00 AM by Mort Gamble
News from editor viewed 951 times
Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - News
Please take a few moments to express your views to defend the circus.
The following updates and action alerts are courtesy of Mary Lou at Feld Entertainment. As always, please go to the Grassroots tab at the left of this home page for detailed information, convenient email links, and additional updates. The latest outbreaks of potential problems are in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Oakland, California. PLEASE TAKE A FEWMOMENTS TO EXPRESS YOUR PRO-CIRCUS-ANIMAL VIEWS to the relevant officials as they ponder actions that would be damaging to the circus industry. THANK YOU for all you do to preserve animals in the American circus! Grand Rapids, Michigan:
ALERT – Grand Rapids,
MI ,may be considering a ban on performing animals in circuses
At a November 18, 2014 City Commission meeting in Grand
Rapids, MI, local animal rights activists urged the city to enact a ban on
performing animals in circuses. The
issue was not a planned item on the Commission's agenda, but the discussion
generated a lot of debate and press coverage.
The Commissioners did not take any further action on a possible performing
animal ban at the meeting, but they may decide to set a time in the future to
discuss the issue. More information will
be provided as soon as it becomes available.
In the meantime, we encourage you to contact the Grand
Rapids City Commissioners with a short e-mail, phone call, or letter to let
them know you oppose any effort to ban performing animals in the city.
Correspondence from circus supporters who live in Michigan,
or who have attended circus performances in Grand Rapids, are especially
encouraged to contact the City Commission.
Contact information for Grand Rapids City officials are
below, as well as sample talking points for your emails/letters. Please use your own words and your own
experiences as a circus animal supporter to politely express your opposition to
a performing animal ban. Thank you for
your assistance and support!
Contact
Information
Grand Rapids City Commission members:
Dave Shaffer
dshaffer@grcity.us
Phone: (616) 456-3855
Walt Gutowski
waltgutowski@grcity.us
Phone: (616) 456-3035
Rosalynn Bliss
rbliss@grcity.us
Phone: (616) 456-3035
Ruth E. Kelly
Phone: (616) 456-3035
rkelly@grcity.us
Senita
Lenear
slenear@grcity.us
Phone: (616) 456-3035
Elias Lumpkins, Jr.
elumpkins@grcity.us
Phone: (616) 456-3035
Other Grand Rapids City Officials:
Mayor George Heartwell
Email: mayor@grcity.us
Phone: (616) 456-3168
City Clerk
Darlene O'Neal
doneal@grcity.us
Phone: (616) 456-3010
City Manager
Gregory A. Sundstrom
manager@grcity.us
Phone: (610) 456-3166
City Attorney
Catherine Mish
cityatty@grcity.us
Phone: (616) 456-3181
Sample Talking
Points
The following are suggestions for your correspondence, but
please use your own words, and you do not need to include every bullet
point. Please keep all correspondence
respectful.
Tell the City Commission members that you are OPPOSED
to any measure that would prevent circuses and other travelling exhibitors with
performing animals from visiting Grand Rapids. All circuses are required to have a United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) exhibitor’s license. USDA conducts regular unannounced inspections
of all performing animals and their stable areas, and their inspection reports
are a matter of public record. Circuses and other animal exhibitors are also
subject to state and local animal cruelty laws and permit requirements in the
local cities they visit and the state of Michigan. Such regulations provide protection to all
performing animals and allow for the prosecution of those who neglect or
mistreat the animals in their care. Millions of American families support and enjoy
traditional circuses with exotic animals, including many thousands who attend
shows in Grand Rapids. It is wrong to
deprive them of the right to choose to do so. Circuses and other traveling exhibitors with
performing animals contribute to the local economies of the communities they
perform in and support hundreds of jobs for local arena and other workers. If any animal is being mistreated in any
environment, then the right answer is to enforce existing laws and regulations
to punish bad actors, as opposed to punishing an entire industry and the public
who enjoy circuses. Performing animals in circuses are well cared
for, and it only makes sense that circuses would take good care of them. In fact, performing circus animals generally
are healthier and live longer than their counterparts in zoos. Proponents of performing animal bans
mischaracterize or misunderstand the facts about the training and handling of
circus animals. Most of the organizations that advocate such bans do so as part
of a larger, animal rights agenda which opposes all or most human interaction
with animals.
Thank you! Oakland, California:
ACTION ALERT –
Oakland, CA, City Council is considering a city-wide ban on circus elephants
On Tuesday, December 2, the Public Safety Committee of the
Oakland City Council will discuss an ordinance which would essentially prohibit
circuses from exhibiting elephants by banning the use of the elephant guide
(also called a bull hook/ankus). If
this ordinance is passed, it would prevent Ringling Bros. and other circuses
from visiting the city of Oakland by preventing the use of a widely accepted
elephant management tool which is absolutely necessary to safely display
elephants in a public setting. If the
Public Safety Committee votes in favor of this ordinance, it will then go
before the full City Council for a hearing and vote on Tuesday, December 9.
In December 2013, the Oakland City Council passed an
ordinance which will require circuses with exotic animals to obtain a permit
prior to visiting the city, and which will also require animal inspections
during circus engagements. The 2013
ordinance does not prohibit performing and exotic animals in the city. Despite this legislative action last year,
local activists are pushing for a bull hook ordinance which would ban circus
elephants entirely.
Please take a moment to contact the members of the Oakland
City Council with a short e-mail, phone call, or letter, and encourage your
friends and family to do the same – especially those that live in Oakland or
who have been to circus performances in the city. Sample talking points for your correspondence
are listed at the end of this alert, but please use your own words and your own
experiences as a circus animal supporter to politely express your opposition to
an elephant ban.
If you have any questions, please contact Mary Lou Kelly at mkelly@feldinc.com. If anyone in the Oakland area is available to
testify at the December 2nd or December 9th Council meetings
in support of elephants in circuses, please let Mary Lou know. Thank you for your help!
Contact
Information:
City Council Mailing address: Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H.
Ogawa Plaza, 2nd Floor, Oakland, CA 94612
FAX for City Council: (510) 238-6910
Email addresses for entire City Council and City
Administrator (copy and paste into the “To” field in your email): Pkernighan@oaklandnet.com; dkalb@oaklandnet.com; CFarmer@oaklandnet.com; lschaaf@oaklandnet.com; ngallo@oaklandnet.com; dbrooks@oaklandnet.com; lreid@oaklandnet.com; atlarge@oaklandnet.com; cityadministrator@oaklandnet.com
Oakland City Council Members:
Patricia Kernighan (Council President)
Phone: (510) 238-7002
Email: Pkernighan@oaklandnet.com
Dan Kalb
Phone: (510) 238-7001
Email: dkalb@oaklandnet.com
Lynette Gibson McElhaney
Phone: (510)238-7003
Email: CFarmer@oaklandnet.com
(policy analyst for Councilmember McElhaney)
Libby Schaaf
Phone: (510) 238-7004
Email: lschaaf@oaklandnet.com
Noel Gallo
Phone: (510) 238-7005
Email: ngallo@oaklandnet.com
Desley Brooks
Phone: (510) 238-7006
Email: dbrooks@oaklandnet.com
Larry Reid (Vice Mayor)
Phone: (510) 238-7007
E-mail: lreid@oaklandnet.com
Rebecca Kaplan (President Pro Tem)
Phone: (510) 238-7008
Email: atlarge@oaklandnet.com
City Administrator Henry Gardner
Phone: (510) 238-3301
Email: cityadministrator@oaklandnet.com
Mayor Jean
Quan
1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
3rd Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
(contact the Mayor via standard mail only; email address is
not available)
Sample Talking
Points
The following are suggestions for your correspondence in
Oakland, but please use your own words, and you do not need to include every
bullet point. Please keep all
correspondence respectful.
Politely tell the City Council members that you
are OPPOSED to any measure that would prevent circuses and other travelling
exhibitors with elephants from visiting Oakland. The Oakland City Council passed a strong animal
ordinance last year which will require circuses with exotic animals to obtain a
permit prior to visiting the city, and which will also require animal
inspections during circus engagements.
The City of Oakland should allow this ordinance to be implemented fully
rather than banning the industry altogether. The ordinance passed in Oakland last year
duplicates state and federal permitting and inspection requirements regulating
exotic and performing animals. These
regulations provide protection to all performing animals and allow for the
prosecution of those who neglect or mistreat the animals in their care. Millions of American families support and enjoy
traditional circuses with elephants and other exotic animals, including many
thousands who attend shows in Richmond.
It is wrong to deprive them of the right to choose to do so. Circuses and other traveling exhibitors with
performing animals contribute to the local economies of the communities they
perform in and support hundreds of jobs for local arena and other workers. If any animal is being mistreated in any
environment, then the right answer is to enforce existing laws and regulations
to punish bad actors, as opposed to punishing an entire industry and the public
who enjoy circuses. Circus elephants and other performing animals
are well cared for and it only makes sense that circuses would take good care
of them. In fact, performing circus
animals generally are healthier and live longer than their counterparts in
zoos. True animal experts know that a safe and secure
environment is the only acceptable and successful method of training any
animal, including elephants. The
elephant guide, sometimes called a bull hook or ankus, has been used by
elephant handlers for thousands of years.
Elephant handlers in zoos, nature preserves and circuses throughout the
world use the guide as an extension of the trainer’s arm along with a voice
command. Proponents of performing animal bans
mischaracterize or misunderstand the facts about the training and handling of
circus animals. Most of the organizations that advocate such bans do so as part
of a larger, animal rights agenda which opposes all or most human interaction
with animals.
Thank you!
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