United States District Court Throws Out Ringling Bros. Motion for Dismissal of Lawsuit that Cites the Abuse of Asian Elephants

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Thursday, 31 July 2003

Court allows lawsuit by ASPCA and animal welfare groups to proceed.

Today, the United States District Court dismissed a challenge by Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus which sought to dismiss a pending lawsuit which charges them with the violation of the Endangered Species Act. The dismissal clears the way for a former Ringling Brother's employee, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), and The Fund for Animals to present their case that Ringling Brothers routinely beats its elephants with bull hooks to perform.

The lawsuit brought against Ringling Bros. by the groups cites the "routine beating, chaining, and other mistreatment of Asian elephants" which constitutes the unlawful use of an endangered species in violation of Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act.

"We are confident about the validity of our case moving forward and find the dismissal of Ringling's challenge today another step towards victory to end the abuse of these magnificent animals," comments Lisa Weisberg, ASPCA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy. "The ASPCA is extremely pleased with the court's decision which allows us to pursue our case. We believe we will successfully prove that Ringling Bros. engages in ongoing abuse of the elephants from the thousands of pages of documents we have in our possession collaborating eyewitness accounts of these elephant's routine torture." For more information about Ringling Brothers abuse of Asian elephants, please visit our website.

For more information, or to contact American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, see their website at: www.aspca.org