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Complaint Seeking Action Against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® for Deceptive Advertising In Its “All Our Newborns Come With a Lifetime Guarantee” CampaignSubmitted to: Federal Trade CommissionSubmitted by: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc.September 25, 2002 RINGLING’S DECEPTIVE ADVERTISEMENT All Our Newborns Come With a Lifetime Guarantee. Asian Elephants. You’ve got to love them. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® sure does. We live with them, care for them, study them and share all we learn with the world. At the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation, our efforts have resulted in the births of 15 bundles of joy since 1992. Which means you can experience the majesty of the Asian elephant today and for generations to come. Endangered species? Not if we can help it. NATURE OF THE COMPLAINT “There’s a sucker born every minute”—especially if prospective patrons buy this latest ad by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey®. Ringling’s current advertising campaign (see the attached advertisement from the San Francisco Chronicle, 8-26-02, and television commercial, viewable on http://www.ringling.com/cec/). Ringling attempts to deceive members of the public by convincing them that it is committed to elephant welfare. The ads target and exploit particularly those consumers who are concerned about endangered species and the humane treatment of animals. Ringling deliberately masks years of continuing elephant abuse in an effort to sell a product that fundamentally contradicts the values of these concerned consumers. This clearly constitutes “advertising deception” as defined by the Federal Trade Commission. This submission is an official complaint requesting that the FTC take action to end all advertisements by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® that portray its circus and breeding operations as being dedicated to animal welfare. As detailed in the Deceptive Policy Statement of the FTC, these misrepresentations are “likely to mislead a consumer acting reasonably in the circumstances, to the consumer’s detriment.” People concerned with animal protection are duped into patronizing Ringling’s circus based on the implied as well as the express claims of the advertiser. Strategic omissions in the advertisement of facts that would contradict the claims of the advertiser further contribute to the “material misrepresentation” of Ringling’s operations. We believe that these ads violate the integrity of the consumer by soliciting funds designated for purposes diametrically opposed to those the consumer is sympathetic toward and intends to support. DECEPTION ONE “ALL OUR NEWBORNS COME WITH A ‘LIFETIME GUARANTEE.’” Ringling’s Deception Regarding Mortality and “Quality of Life” of Baby Elephants at Its Facilities Ringling offers the consumer an ambiguous and misleading product “guarantee.” Is Ringling guaranteeing the newborns a high quality of life or guaranteeing species continuity? Either guarantee would be fraudulent. While trumpeting the births of “15 bundles of joy since 1992,” Ringling intentionally conceals, through the chosen wording of its ad, an alarming 17 documented elephant deaths since 1992. These deaths are recorded on the Circuses.com factsheet listing dozens of specific instances of Ringling’s abusive treatment of animals. Ringling fails to disclose that two of the 17 deaths were those of “bundles of joy” (baby elephants) Benjamin and Kenny. Both deaths were preventable. For example, even though elephants are excellent swimmers, Benjamin, a 4-year-old baby elephant who had been removed from his mother before she could teach him to swim, drowned when he stepped into a pond while the circus was traveling through Texas (July 26, 1999). On the Ringling.com Web site, Ringling falsely claims that “calves born under the care of Ringling Bros. remain with their natural mothers until old enough to be properly weaned, usually 2 years.” However, according to the Asian Elephant Studbook, published by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Benjamin was removed from his mother when he was only 1 year old. Cynthia Moss, noted elephant researcher and director of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya, writes: Biologically each elephant calf is extremely important to its mother because she has to invest so much time and effort in producing and rearing each calf to adulthood. ... If a calf is to survive to adulthood, it too must form intense close bonds with its mother and other family members. (Animal Welfare Institute, http://www.awionline.org) Gerry Ellis, the author of Wild Orphans (May, 2002), also reports the magnitude of trauma caused by forcible separation: The first three or four years they’re very dependent on their mother. They would nurse up until the time they’re about four, possibly even five years old. And it’s during that time that they stay very close to the mother and the matriarchal herd. A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report dated February 9, 1999, indicated that there were wounds on Ringling’s baby elephants Doc and Angelica after they had been separated from their mothers: “There were large visible lesions on the rear legs of both Doc and Angelica. It was stated that ‘these scars were caused by rope burns, resulting from the separation process from the mothers.’” In When Elephants Weep (Masson and McCarthy, 1995), the authors document the tragedy of forcible separation: “[T]he elephant calves run around, scream, and search for their mothers.” Ringling’s new baby elephants, Gunther and Sara, are scheduled to be forcibly removed from their mothers this month. Some of the 17 deaths at Ringling were directly preventable, having resulted from cumulative trainer abuse or from correctable conditions common to captivity and confinement (e.g., degenerative osteoarthritis). These unusually high numbers of deaths reflect the abusive conditions in the animal circus industry. From 1994 to 2000, at least 30 circus elephants have died premature deaths. (Animal Protection Institute) Furthermore, four of the 15 births that Ringling is taking credit for occurred at Busch Gardens, not Ringling’s Elephant Conservation Center; these elephants belonged to Roman Schmitt (certificate of ownership: March 27,1995). As well, a calf either died in utero or was stillborn on May 22, 1996. This changes Ringling’s totals to 11 births and 17 deaths (and one stillborn calf) since 1992. The elephants in Ringling’s custody are actually dying at a faster rate than they are being born. All that can be “guaranteed” are unnatural and abusive conditions that are also detrimental to species continuity. DECEPTION TWO “ENDANGERED SPECIES? NOT IF WE CAN HELP IT.” Ringling’s Misrepresentation of the Endangered Species Act and Omission of Mortality Rates and Total Numbers of Elephants Taken From Natural Habitats We have documented the fact that there have been at least 35 percent more elephant deaths than births at Ringling since 1992. Compounding the deception is the fact that of the estimated 63 elephants presently under Ringling’s control, 44 have been appropriated directly from their natural wild habitat and families. Another seven wild-caught elephants have been transferred by Ringling to other facilities since 1999, and 14 of the 17 dead elephants were wild-caught. This totals 65 wild-caught elephants. The term “endangered species,” as defined by the Endangered Species Act, means: any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range … (16 U.S.C § 1532(6)) This citation can be accessed on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) Web site, http://species.fws.gov (the USFWS enforces the Endangered Species Act). By this definition, the forcible taking of the 65 elephants from their natural habitat (a well-documented industry practice, inextricably linked to poaching and the drugging of mother elephants to procure their calves for market sale) has resulted in a decrease in elephant populations in their natural range. Moreover, all of the 44 surviving elephants and subsequently captured elephants, as well as all the new elephants born under Ringling’s control, will remain in captivity for their entire lives without any hope of being released or introduced to their natural habitat. Ringling therefore is guilty of contributing to the decrease in natural populations, significantly endangering the species as defined by the Endangered Species Act. Ringling also fails to mention the poor birth rate of elephants at its facilities compared to those of free elephants in their natural habitat. Captive elephants always reproduce at a far lower rate. On June 18, 2002, Dr. Dennis Schmitt warned of a “staggering low birth rate” in captive Asian elephants and a “high infant mortality rate.” This is consistent with figures documenting African elephants. According to the AZA’s African Elephant Studbook, “Captive breeding efforts have been met with little success. In the entire history of African elephants in North America, only 27 calves have been born, with only 50 percent surviving to a year of age.” The harsh conditions of captivity detract not only from the elephants’ quality of life but also from the goal of furthering the mission of the Endangered Species Act. According to David Hancocks, former director of the Woodland Park Zoo, “even under the best of conditions, elephants are actually very poor candidates for life in captivity.” DECEPTION THREE “YOU’VE GOT TO LOVE THEM. RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY SURE DOES. WE LIVE WITH THEM, CARE FOR THEM, …” Ringling’s Deception Regarding Abusive Conditions at Its Facilities The sentimental and deceptive words above obscure the fact that Ringling continues to add to its well-documented record of abuse: In the circus, baby elephants and circus elephants are trained in cruel ways. The first thing they do is beat the spirit out of the elephant. For days and weeks on end, they will beat the elephants many times with an instrument that looks like a long wooden stick with a sharp metal hook on the end. They also use food and water deprivation, as well as sleep deprivation, to control and force the elephants to do what they are supposed to do. (Jane Garrison, “Fourth Annual Conference on Animals and the Law: A Call to Attorneys: Brainstorming to Help Captive Elephants,” Pace Environmental Law Review 16 (1998): 133.) Violence has been directed, repeatedly, by Ringling staff members toward these baby “bundles of joy.” USDA documents (released under the Freedom of Information Act to the ASPCA on March 18, 2002) report that: Benjamin’s trainer had allowed him to go into the pond, but when he refused to come out the trainer went into the pond after him with an ankus. [It is also called a bull hook, elephant goad, or elephant hook]. “Witnesses state the animal attempted to avoid (the trainer) when he ‘poked’ the elephant with a stick (ankus).” According to internal documents “the elephant seeing and/or being ‘touched’ or ‘poked’ with an ankus created behavioral stress and trauma which precipitated in [sic] the physical harm and ultimate death of the animal.” According to congressional testimony provided by Ringling barn man Tom Rider: [Elephants] live in confinement, and they are beaten all the time when they don’t perform properly … when I became disturbed about the treatment of the elephants, the continual beatings, including the baby Benjamin, I was told, ‘That’s discipline.’ (June 13, 2000) In the death of Kenny, the USDA charged Ringling with “Animal Welfare Act Violations in the failure to provide veterinary care,” and Ringling paid $20,000 to settle out of court (August 28, 1998). The USDA concluded: Kenny, the baby endangered Asian elephant, was forced to perform in Jacksonville, Florida, despite obvious illness. He was found dead hours later in a pool of bloody diarrhea. In response to the abuse leveled upon Doc and Angela, USDA Deputy Administrator Ron DeHaven, in a letter to Ringling (May 11, 1999), wrote: We have completed our review of the lesions observed on two juvenile elephants, Doc and Angelica, during the inspection of the Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk City, Fla., on February 9, 1999. ... [W]e find that the handling of these two elephants was not in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act regulations. ... We believe there is sufficient evidence to confirm the handling of these animals caused unnecessary trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm, and discomfort to these two elephants. Since 1993, the Animal Protection Institute has calculated that Ringling has also been cited for more than 100 deficiencies in animal care during routine inspections by the USDA. These are neither isolated incidents nor exceptions to the rule. Clearly, Ringling’s methods cannot be construed as “care” or “love.” According to the Asian Elephant Studbook, “Wild elephants spend 70-90 percent of their time foraging (Seidensticker, 1984). The remainder of their time is spent bathing, dusting, resting or moving to a new feeding site (Shoshani and Eisenberg, 1982).” In contrast, Ringling’s elephants are packed tightly into boxcars and shackled by four legs for lengthy journeys across the country. Between shows, the elephants remain shackled or confined in tiny pens. A lifetime of constraint is both cruel and deadly. In The Elephant’s Foot (Csuti, Sargent, Bechert, 2001), the authors documented: Foot problems are seen in 50 percent of captive Asian and African elephants at some time in their lives. … [T]hey may result in serious disability or death. ... There is general consensus that lack of exercise, long hours standing on hard substrates, and contamination resulting from standing in their own excreta are major contributors to elephant foot problems. … Foot-related conditions and arthritis are the leading cause of euthanasia in captive elephants in the United States. ... Elephants in both zoo and circus situations have foot-related diseases. Ringling has opposed proposed laws banning cruel training methods. In comments submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and dated April 17, 2000, Ringling contested language in the agency’s “Draft Policy on Training and Handling of Potentially Dangerous Animals” that reads, “Hot shots, shocking collars, or shocking belts should not be used for training or to handle the animals during exhibition, and any such use will be closely scrutinized. An ankus may not be used in an abusive manner that causes wounds or other injuries.” DECEPTION FOUR “WE … SHARE ALL WE LEARN WITH THE WORLD.” Ringling’s Misrepresentation With Regard to Disclosure of Its Operations Under the guise of objective science (“We … study them and share all we learn with the world”), Ringling attempts to mislead the public to believe that the entire world will benefit from its willingness to share all the knowledge it has accumulated about elephant reproduction, elephant veterinary care, etc. However, Ringling operates within a cloak of secrecy, withholding even the most basic information concerning elephants’ names and deaths. Of the estimated 15 adult elephant deaths since 1992, none were announced by Ringling (see Circuses.com). In a March 11, 1998, letter to USFWS, Ringling wrote: It is our position that all of the names of the animals are proprietary or confidential business information and should not be released to any third party. On June 9, 1998, Ringling also was cited by the USDA for failure to provide records of veterinary care for Seetna, the mother of the calf who died stillborn. Seetna was euthanized due to prolonged dystocia, a condition related to difficult labor. On July 29, 1999, USDA Investigator Kenyon Branch stated in an affidavit that he had informed Ringling’s vice president and corporate counsel, Julia Alex Strauss, that “all of the materials are required by law to be submitted to the USDA” when he requested a copy of Benjamin’s necropsy report and all relevant materials. In order to obtain relevant records, however, the USDA had to resort to delivering, on August 6, 1999, a Subpoena Duces Tecum to Texas A&M University, where Benjamin was necropsied. According to an internal February 25, 1999, U.S. Department of Agriculture memo written by an inspector and detailing injuries found on two baby elephants during a February 9, 1999, inspection: [Ringling veterinarian] Dr. Lindsay was very upset and asked repeatedly why we could not be more collegial and call him before we came. I explained to him that all our inspections are unannounced. ... All Ringling personnel were very reluctant to let us take pictures [of the calves’ rope lesions]. … [Ringling employee Jim Williams] proceeded to interrogate me. …He then began badgering me. …He then walked away in apparent disgust. Ringling is strictly secretive about its operations, never allowing outsiders to monitor training sessions. We obtained video footage of elephant trainer Tim Frisco, son of former Ringling trainer Joe Frisco Sr., teaching novice trainers how to beat elephants. He is shown on tape yelling, “Sink that hook into them!” and “Make them scream!” and viciously attacking endangered Asian elephants. The elephants do scream and recoil from the assaults. Perhaps most damning is Frisco’s warning that punishments must be severe because the elephants cannot be hit “in front of a thousand people.” This atmosphere of secrecy resulted in the recent petition by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Animal Welfare Institute, and The Fund For Animals (December 20, 2001), under the Freedom of Information Act, to obtain thousands of pages of documents concerning years of repeated abuse of elephants by Ringling employees (December 20, 2001). RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION This ad campaign by Ringling represents a dangerous escalation in its public relations strategy. No longer is it simply defending itself from scrutiny relating to years of repeated abuse; it is now completely contorting the reality of its practices to reframe itself to consumers as a leading force for animal protection. Ringling is attempting to exploit the consciences and values of consumers through deceptive advertising, in order to support activities that contradict these very same values. We hope that the FTC’s ruling in this matter will bring an end to Ringling’s hypocritical and harmful advertising campaign. CONTACT INFORMATION FOR PARTIES INVOLVED People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is an international nonprofit membership corporation organized under the laws of Virginia. PETA and its members are committed to ending the suffering of animals and ensuring their humane treatment. PETA is headquartered at 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; tel.: 757-622-7382; fax: 757-622-0457. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® is owned by Feld Entertainment®. In 1996, Kenneth Feld, chairperson and CEO of Irvin Feld & Kenneth Feld, Inc., announced the corporation’s name change to Feld Entertainment. The worldwide headquarters of Feld Entertainment is located at 8607 Westwood Center Dr., Vienna, VA 22182; tel.:703-448-4000; fax: 703-448-4100. Name ____________________________ Date _____________________________ Debbie Leahy, Director Captive Exotic Animal Department People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 501 Front St. Norfolk, VA 23510 Tel.: 757-622-7382 Fax: 757-622-0457
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"Make 'Em Scream": Watch Standard Elephant-Training Practices
Ringling Bros. Exposed |
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