Performing animals
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is reportedly close to
purchasing a 200-acre site northeast of Polk City, Florida, as a retirement colony for 50
elephants and possibly several lions and tigers who were retired from performing with the
retirement of longtime trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams in 1991. Ringling already owns a
35-acre animal retirement site elsewhere in Levy County. In other Ringling news, the
circus is splitting two new touring units off from the two that visit 95 U.S. cities a
year––one to tour South America, the other to tour Asia. The new units will be the first
Ringling shows to perform under tents since 1956, when the U.S. units turned to indoor
arenas.
The 1,100-mile Iditarod sled dog race lost yet another major sponsor on
September 25 when Timberland, a primary backer since 1987, announced it would cease
annual funding of about $390,000 because the association didn’t “translate well” to many
customers. Iams pulled out on September 13.
A bull broke out of a temporary fighting ring October 4 at Viver, Spain,
charged into a house, and fatally gored Timotea Martinez, 82, as she played cards with
friends in her kitchen. Five days later a 67-year-old man was crushed to death by a bull
during a fiesta run through Nules, Spain, causing the town to cancel a second fiesta run
during which torches were to be attached to the bull’s horns.
ANIMAL PEOPLE reader Jackie Jackelow thought something didn’t sound
right about a scheduled animal exhibition by the Horseshoe Creek Wildlife Foundation at
the Walmart in Vero Beach, Florida, so she found out from us which USDA office to
call and soon learned that the organization, owned by Christina Buford of Davenport,
Florida, was formerly known as Catquest––and her exhibitor’s permit had been cancelled,
after a previous brush with Animal Welfare Act enforcement. The exhibition was halted.
