Carson and Barnes Circus Fact Sheet

Performing captive wildlife -- elephants, lions, tigers, bears, baboons, monkeys, camels, llamas -- all endure years of physical and psychological pain and suffering in traveling acts to "entertain" an uninformed audience.

Animals used in the Carson & Barnes Circus and other traveling acts travel thousands of miles each year without water, in railroad cars or trucks not air-conditioned in summer or heated in winter. Elephants are forced to stand in their own waste, chained in place for up to 100 hours while being transported from one performance to another. These performing animals do not receive the proper care, nutrition, and environmental enrichment required for their well-being.

Carson & Barnes has failed to meet minimal federal standards for the care of animals used in exhibition as established in the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited Carson & Barnes numerous times for failure to provide veterinary care, adequate shelter from the elements, and proper food and water, as well as failure to handle animals in a manner that prevents trauma and harm and ensures public safety.



06/27/04
Carson & Barnes says a clerical error resulted in advertisements that Baby Jennie, its first live elephant birth, would be performing center stage at upcoming shows. Jennie died in April. (see entry 04/12/04) (Ukiah Daily Journal)

04/12/04
Baby Jennie, a 5-year-old endangered Asian elephant calf, died from elephant herpes virus. Jennie was Carson & Barnes’s first live birth from its breeding program. Allegations are made that Jennie’s illness is attributed to the stress of being separated from her mother too early and being sent on the road to perform at just 16 months of age. It is reported that Carson & Barnes commingles Asian and African elephants and it is possible for African elephants to carry the virus in a dormant state, only to pass it on to Asian elephants, resulting in their death. (Ukiah Daily Journal, Carson & Barnes Press Release accessed 05/11/04)

08/09/02
A Carson & Barnes truck carrying two elephants overturned in Rhinebeck, NY on the way to a performance scheduled later that day. Three people were sent to the hospital and the road was closed while emergency workers freed the trapped elephants and placed them in another truck. The show opened as scheduled. (Poughkeepsie Journal)

05/14/02
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to have an attending veterinarian and failure to provide adequate veterinary care to Paula, an African elephant with chronic skin problems. (USDA Inspection Report)

01/10/02
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to have adequate perimeter fencing at its winter quarters that keeps animals in and unauthorized people out. The inspector also noted that Paula, an African elephant, still had very rough skin that was not improving and that the elephant named Libby has a growth on her side. (USDA Inspection Report)

01/00/02
Federal authorities receive an undercover videotape from an animal advocacy organization of an elephant training session. The video shows Carson & Barnes’s animal care director beating the elephants with a bullhook and shocking them with an electric prod while he instructs other trainers that the only way to get the elephants’ attention is to make them scream. The video also shows a handler using a blowtorch to remove the elephants’ coarse hair, as well as stereotypic behavior exhibited by chained elephants and caged bears. (North Coast Journal Weekly, The Los Alamos Monitor, PETA)

05/22/01
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to provide veterinary care to a zebu with overgrown hooves; failure to have 15 elephants under the direct control and supervision of a knowledgeable handler while children, parents, and teachers were present; overworking a camel used for rides; allowing a dog to run loose in the parking areas; failure to provide shelter to a pygmy hippopotamus, a zebu, a water buffalo, llamas, goats, and camels during gusty winds and rain showers; failure to provide minimum space and failure to afford species-specific behavior to elephants confined in transport trailers and other elephants chained by fore and rear legs; failure to provide minimum space and failure to provide species-specific behavior and species-appropriate exercise to big cats confined in travel cages; improper food storage; and expired meat. (USDA Inspection Report)

01/30/01
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to maintain the structural strength of its transport trailers to contain the animals and protect them from injury. The inspector also noted that Paula, an African elephant, still had very rough skin that was not improving, that an elephant named Libby has a growth on her side, and an elephant named Bunny has two growths on her left rear side. (USDA Inspection Report)

08/24/00
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to have available records showing elephant attendants, handlers, and grooms were tested for tuberculosis. (USDA Inspection Report)

07/22/00
Carson & Barnes was forced to cancel two shows after Anne Arundel County, MD, fire officials deemed its tent unsafe. The circus tent failed the inspectors' flame-spread test for fire safety. Inspectors also found problems with exit lightings and signs. (The Capital)

06/06/00
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for shackling an elephant with a leg chain that did not have a protective covering such as a fire hose to protect the elephant’s leg. (USDA Inspection Report)

01/18/00
A USDA inspector noted that the elephant Libby has one growth on her side and the elephant Bunny has two growths on her left rear side. (USDA Inspection Report)

10/13/99
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to store food and bedding in a manner that prevents contamination by vermin, as well as failure to provide cages for bears that meet minimum space requirements. The enclosures did not provide adequate space for the bears to make normal postural and social adjustments with adequate freedom of movement while lying down. (USDA Inspection Report)

07/27/99
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to clean the cat meat storage container in a manner that prevents contamination. (USDA Inspection Report)

04/09/99
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to provide access for inspection of records, failure to review the Program of Vet Care by an attending veterinarian since 04/96, and inadequate storage of food. (USDA Inspection Report)

09/06/98
Carson & Barnes announced that its elephant Isa had given birth to a baby elephant named Jennie. According to a USDA inspection report dated 09/02/98, just four days before Jennie's birth, Isa was on the road giving elephant rides with Carson & Barnes’s sister circus, Kelly Miller Circus, in Logansport, IN. This indicates that Isa was subjected to the rigors of travel and performing while in advanced stages of pregnancy. (www.carsonandbarnes.com, USDA Inspection Report for Kelly Miller Circus)

06/16/98
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to maintain transport enclosures for the tigers. (USDA Inspection Report)

02/05/98
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to maintain structurally sound fencing around exotic hoofed animals, failure to provide adequate drainage in a muddy water buffalo enclosure, failure to maintain the elephant transport trailers, and failure to provide adequate outdoor housing for the dogs used in circus acts. The inspector also noted that the elephant named Libby has a growth on her left rear side, the elephant Bunny has two growths on her left rear side, and the elephant Wimpy has a wound on his head between his eyes. (USDA Inspection Report)

10/28/97
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to correct a previously identified violation of not providing adequate ventilation in the elephant transport trailer. Carson & Barnes was also cited for failure to maintain the transport trailers for the large cats, a pygmy hippopotamus, llamas, goats, sheep, and other animals; failure to maintain and provide records of acquisition for the elephants; and improper food storage. The inspector also noted that several of the elephants were showing slight to moderate overgrowth of callous on the edges of their feet. The inspector also noted that correction for foot care or other veterinary needs for the animals shall continue with daily monitoring at a minimum and the advice of an attending veterinarian shall be sought if needed. (USDA Inspection Report)

07/23/97
After an investigation in Colorado, Cindy Machado, a humane investigator with the Marin Humane Society, reported, “I watched animals become injured with blood dripping down their legs without being treated. There were ponies and horses with open, draining saddle sores that were still being ridden.” Officer Machado also reported inadequate and inhumane restraints on animals; stress-induced behaviors such as horses rearing, camels fighting, and elephants rocking and swaying; as well as non-compliance with federal regulations. She presented a series of photographs, saying she had seen snakes in overcrowded cages, elephants with soccer-ball-sized boils, and a pygmy hippo, who by nature requires water, living in a rusty pan without water — a scene she said that “brought tears to my eyes.” She called the conditions in which the animals live, the “most appalling” conditions in her 14 years with the Marin Humane Society. (San Francisco Examiner, Marin Independent Journal)

05/28/97
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to provide adequate ventilation in the elephant transport trailers. In several of the vehicles, no cross ventilation is available. (USDA Inspection Report)

03/31/97
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to make necessary repairs to a tiger transport trailer to prevent injury to the animals. The circus was also cited for failing to provide an exercise plan for the dogs, as well as keeping the dogs on too short a tether and, therefore, failing to provide minimum space. (USDA Inspection Report)

10/15/96
The USDA cited Carson & Barnes for failure to provide veterinary treatment to more than half of the elephants who needed foot care. (USDA Inspection Report)

02/01/95
A Carson & Barnes tiger named Shawana squeezed out of her enclosure and was missing for 10 days. A helicopter pilot finally spotted her curled up just inside heavily forested Kiamichi Park, near Carson & Barnes’s winter quarters. She was shot with a tranquilizer and returned to captivity. (Associated Press, Chicago Tribune)

10/21/94
Kay, a 58-year-old elephant, died while on tour with Carson & Barnes. Kay suffered from a kidney ailment and died backstage before she was about to perform. (The State Journal-Register, www.roadsideamerica.com)



Tina Volpe, Marketing Manager
Maplewood Mall
3001 White Bear Avenue N., #1072
St. Paul, MN 55109

phone: 651-770-3863
email: tvolpe@simon.com