PETA, Ringling clash in Austin

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

AUSTIN–Members of PETA and Action for Animals claimed on
July 6, 2006 that police improperly seized their videotapes and
refused to take a cruelty complaint that they sought to bring against
the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Activist Robert Hutton reportedly alleged that he saw blood
behind an elephant’s ear, possibly caused by use of an ankus, while
circus staff walked a group of elephants from a performance site to
the Ringling train.
Another activist, Karina Hilliard, “said she called 911 to
report that trainers made sexually harassing comments to her,” wrote
Susannah Gonzales of the Austin American-Statesman. “When police
officers arrived, Hilliard said, they accused Hilliard of lying
about the harassment so that police would respond to the previous
reports of animal cruelty. Hilliard denied the accusation and said
she did not know that complaints of animal cruelty had been made.”