Performing Animals
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:
Anti-cruelty laws in most states do apply to ani-
mals at state and county fairs, carnivals, and circus,
reminds Vermont Volunteer Services for Animals humane
officer Sue Skaskiw. If you see cruelty, including live ani-
mals being offered as prizes, report it.
Christopher Ponte, 22, of Wappingers Falls,
New York, climbed a four-foot-high plastic fence at the
Fishkill Mall in nearby Fishkill on June 6 to get into an
enclosure with 10 elephants belonging to the Clyde Beatty-
Cole Brothers Circus. He was crushed to death when one of
the elephants turned, pinning him against a truck.
At least two pig-racing concessions are on the
county fair circuit this summer––Triple W Racing Pigs, run
by Wanda, Rachel, and Gene Webber of Shelby, North
Carolina, and Bob Hale Pig Racing Stables of Sikeston,
Missouri.
