Circus ban advances to City Council

Committee splits vote on wild animal measure
BY EMILY GURNON

The fate of the Shriners' circus in Minneapolis, and the animals it features, was left dangling Wednesday as fez-topped Shriners and button-wearing animal rights activists packed a City Council hearing room.

The public safety committee of the City Council debated a measure to effectively ban any circus with wild animals.

"Circus performances with wild animals should be as outdated as minstrel shows," said Council Member Ralph Remington, sponsor of the amended ordinance.

Unlike domestic animals, forcing wild ones to do tricks "requires pain inducement," Remington said. "It's the only way you can train wild animals."

But the committee was split and, in the end, voted to forward the issue to the full council without a recommendation.

The debate packed the council chamber, with Shriners on one side and animal rights advocates on the other.

Tim Davison, a Shriners spokesman, said he spent several years as an elephant handler and does not believe conditions are as bad as some describe.

The ban would be "a solution looking for a problem," he said. "You mistreat an animal, it's going to get you."

The Minneapolis Shrine Circus is scheduled to perform Oct. 5-7 at the Target Center - though any new rules would not take effect until January 2009.

The Shrine Circus performs annually at the Target Center, and some council members said they were concerned about the economic effect of canceling the shows. The Target Center, owned by the city, faces severe financial problems.

The bigger risk, Council Member Barbara Johnson said, is if the council bans the circus - forgoing that revenue - and then asks the Legislature for debt relief for the Target Center.

"We will be laughed off the dais at the Legislature, so this is an extreme risk," she said.

The Minneapolis Shrine Circus is a production of George Carden Circus International, which has been cited for failing to meet minimum federal standards of care for exhibition animals, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA said it has video footage of a circus trainer attacking elephants with steel-tipped bullhooks as the animals recoil in pain. The head trainer tells the other handlers to make sure that such beatings are always severe but never carried out in public view, PETA said.

And circus animals have injured and attacked humans.

The George Carden Web site says the circus "is committed to the highest standards in the care of all of our animal performers." The trainers build a rapport with the animals "based on trust and affection."

Remington and fellow Council Member Cam Gordon worked with Circus Reform Yes, a local group that has called for bans on the use of wild animals in circuses.

The group said 26 American cities - and hundreds worldwide - have barred wild animal circuses.

Emily Gurnon can be reached at egurnon@pioneerpress.com or 612-338-6516.