WP-USDA Seizes Circus Elephants - Democratic Underground

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Thu Mar-18-04 12:05 AM
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WP-USDA Seizes Circus Elephants

USDA Seizes Circus Elephants
Decree Under Animal Welfare Act Settles Charges of Improper Care

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 18, 2004

For the first time since elephants began entertaining people at American circuses more than 200 years ago, the federal government has removed a herd of circus animals from an owner accused of mistreating and mishandling his animals. Under a consent decree that took effect this week between the U.S. Agriculture Department and John F. Cuneo Jr. and his Hawthorn Corp., 16 circus elephants will be removed from its Illinois facilities by August and sent to other homes. The company also agreed to pay a $200,000 fine.

The removal will end a troubled history Cuneo has had with elephants. One of his animals went on a rampage in 1994 in Honolulu, killing its trainer and running through the streets before being shot and killed. Two other animals got into a fight in Charlotte that ended with the animals crashing into a church and demolishing a car. In 1996, two of Cuneo's animals died of tuberculosis in the same week. "This is an unprecedented win for Animal Care," said USDA spokesman Darby Holladay, referring to the arm of the agency that oversees the Animal Welfare Act. He said the agency took action because of a documented history of violations by Hawthorn over several years.

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Last year, the USDA forcibly confiscated another animal from Cuneo after concluding that it was not getting proper veterinary care. That animal was sent to Elephant Sanctuary, a 2,700-acre preserve for mistreated or unwanted elephants in Hohenwald, Tenn. Carol Buckley, the sanctuary's executive director, said she never imagined that the first confiscation would result in stripping Cuneo of his other 16 elephants. "Nothing like this has happened before," she said. "The animal welfare laws here are weak to begin with, and at no other time has USDA actually enforced their laws like this. . . . Clearly, these actions will force elephant owners to be more careful about how they treat their animals."

Although pleased that Cuneo will lose his elephants, Buckley said she is concerned that the USDA will not be able to find new homes for the elephants because at least two of them have tuberculosis. "Cuneo has made a lot of money on the backs of these animals, and now he's getting rid of them when they're less and less useful to him," she said. "Because there is TB in the herd, it's going to be very difficult to find homes for them individually or in some groups. We think they need to remain together as a herd, and that's going to be very hard to do." Holladay of USDA said that whatever difficulties might arise because some of Cuneo's elephants have tuberculosis, "we and Hawthorn are committed to delivering them to new homes."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2956-2004Mar17.html