Blayne Doyle
Officer with the Palm Bay Police Department
Police officer for 31 years

In February of 1992, I was on duty when an 8,000 pound elephant ran amok
while giving elephant rides at a circus. She had six people on her back,
five of them children. I have seen my share of danger over the past three
decades, but I can assure you that although I have been shot and stabbed;
been in automobile, motorcycle, and airplane accidents; and been in more
than my share of other life-threatening situations, I have never seen a
situation as frightening – or one I was less capable of controlling – than
that day the elephant ran wild.

Since that time, I have carefully researched the problem of elephants in
circuses and am probably now an authority on what happens when they go
berserk. I have discovered, much to my alarm, that once and elephant goes
out of control, nothing can be done. It is not a predictable accident.
The only thing that can be done – and even this is a danger to the public
– is to get a battery of police officers in with heavy weapons and gun the
elephant down.

You often hear from the circus industry that they carry tranquilizer drugs
in case an animal escapes or there is a problem. In the case of a tiger
or a lion, yes, there are drugs which will incapacitate the animal within
ten to fifteen minutes. With elephants, that is not the case.

I have researched the drug M99 or etorphine, which is the drug that is
used in the wild to tranquilize elephants. This drug is so highly
dangerous to humans that one drop can kill a human being. It is also so
highly regulated in the U.S. that it is unlikely that regulatory agencies
– which don't even allow qualified veterinarians to keep it on hand –
would allow circuses to travel around the country carrying this drug or
allow them to fire a dose of [it] into a crowd. I spent a lot of time
trying to devise a plan that would protect people in case of an elephant
rampage. After months of research, I came to the conclusion that the only
plan is not to let elephants travel. There is simply no other way to
protect the public.”