Animal Awareness / Letter to Mayor Moyer of Annapolis

Animals in Entertainment

No living being should ever be forced to perform unless they are a willing participant who has chosen that life.

August, 2002 Letter from Animal Awareness to the Mayor of Annapolis Maryland

Dear Honorable Mayor Ellen Moyer,

This past May I wrote to you expressing concern about the Clyde-Beatty Circus that performed in Annapolis. My concerns are not just with the Clyde-Beatty Circus but for all circuses and sideshows that use animal acts. They all have similar training and transport methods which are inherently cruel.

I am writing to you today because I came across an article written in the San Francisco Examiner that you may find interesting. It is written in a tongue and cheek style but it really does bring up some great points. I especially liked the comparison with how Ringling Bros. used to have a "human freak show" until our maturing society no longer felt it appropriate to make a spectacle of human deformities. The article points out, which I agree with, that our society is once again maturing to a level of social consciousness which realizes that making a spectacle of any living being for entertainment is inappropriate and wrong, especially since there are so many other ways to entertain ourselves that do not involve animals.

Another well-written article exposes how corrupt the well-funded entertainment industry is was published Salon.com. To get then entire story, you have to click through a few pages. It explains in great detail how Ringling Bros has done illegal wire taps and even paid top CIA officials to manipulate the lives of those who expose Ringling's exploitation of child labor as well as animal cruelty. There are currently legal cases pending and the CIA officials have testified that it all did happen.

I would encourage you to read these articles and once again consider the plight of circus animals and the many ways they suffer including: (1) physical suffering during acquisition, training, and traveling, (2) emotional suffering due to being caged, alone, and broken spirit, (3) lack of adequate socialization with other animals and (4) lack of environmental enrichment such as trees, grass, etc.

If Annapolis joined Takoma Park and banned the use of animal acts, it would send a powerful message to all Marylanders that such needless suffering of living sentient beings cannot be tolerated in a society that strives to decrease human youth and domestic violence. Ridding a community of animal oppression and cruelty will indeed have a positive effect on decreasing oppression and cruelty in these other human forms.

Animal Awareness is a non-profit organization based in the Maryland area. Despite being newly formed in March of this year, we have grown considerably. This past June I met with the offices of both Senator Sarbanes and Senator Mikulski to discuss upcoming federal legislation for animal protection. I also personally met with Congressman Ben Cardin and two of his aides about the same federal legislation. I left a list with them showing more than 100 Marylanders who support animal advocacy issues and Animal Awareness. I think it really speaks highly of the animal compassion in Marylanders when 100 people have sought us out in a few short months without any promotion. Animal Awareness has not officially started a campaign to gather volunteers and supporters yet due to it being newly formed. Now that our 501(c)3 papers have been filed, we will start actively seeking support.

I would be happy to meet with you at your convenience to share this list with you as well as discuss in detail issues surrounding animals used for entertainment and the many wonderful sanctuaries that could take them in once they are freed.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on a possible ban of animals used in entertainment within Annapolis. I am also writing a similar letter to Alderman Sheila Tolliver and Alderman Joshua Cohen because they both expressed interest in this issue back in May. Alderman Cohen even mentioned the fact that he had already heard about animal abuse issues in circuses on Public Radio.

best regards,
Janet Deery
President, Animal Awareness

May, 2002 Letter from Animal Awareness to Mayor Ellen Moyer

Dear Honorable Mayor Ellen Moyer,

I am writing to you today to bring to your attention the suffering that circus animals endure when they are forced to perform in traveling animal acts as well as non-traveling animal acts. Any animal suffering for entertainment purposes is completely unnecessary. We live in an age where all sorts of humane entertainment is at our fingertips. Also, educational resources about animals are just a click away on the web, on many TV stations, and available on every medium from CD-roms to video tapes... and of course, books. No one needs to see a wild animal perform unnatural tricks in a circus to learn anything useful or accurate about that animal.

Knowing that animals form tight family bonds, feel emotions, have the ability to think, as well as feel pain and suffering, there is no justification to treat a living being so cruelly for a lifetime in the name of entertainment.

Many other countries as well as US states and cities have already banned animal acts completely. Takoma Park Maryland is among the progressive cities that no longer allow animals acts of any kind. I encourage Annapolis to be the next city in Maryland to ban such cruel forms of entertainment.

In addition to animal acts being unethical and immoral, the fact is that no government agency or any humane organization monitors the training sessions of performing animals. The United States Department of Agriculture rarely follows up even when hard evidence of abuse is found because no one is there to witness any abuses as it happens, making it difficult to prove how and from whom the animal received the injury. Even when there are countless hours of undercover video footage showing abuse, such as that seen on http://www.circuswatch.com, still no action from the USDA is taken.

And, even more alarming is the fact that nothing happens even when the USDA does in fact file formal charges. The circus that will be coming to Annapolis on May 8 and May 9 has a terrible record of animal abuse. In April 1999, the USDA filed formal charges of AWA violations against Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. because the elephants showed signs of being abused with sharp metal bullhooks. They were charged with animal cruelty in August 1999 by a New Jersey humane society for overloading and overworking an elephant. The Animal Welfare Act only provides the smallest amount of protection, so when a circus or other show cannot maintain even that minimum level of living conditions, it is truely sadening.

I encourage you to look at the long list of violations by the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus: (including 5 separate attacks during Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus perfomances that resulted in severe injury and deaths of the paying public) http://www.circuses.com/factclydebeatty.html

I also encourage you to look at the long list of cities and states that have already banned these cruel forms of entertainment: http://www.circuses.com/cban.html (there are also links on this page that show the many attacks that out-of-control circus animals have had on visitors to the circus.) These are wild animals who are only tamed through severe punishiment. It has proven very dangerous to have these animals around the public.

For the safety of Annapolis citizens as well as for the ethical concerns of the animals, please stop the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus from performing this week. And, please ban all animal acts from Annapolis.