Posted 5/29/2015 7:31:15 AM by Mort Gamble
News from editor viewed 1356 times
Friday, May 29, 2015 - News
Please take a moment to express your pro-circus elephant views.
On
Monday, June 1, at 4:00PM CST, the Austin City
Council’s Health and Human Services Committee will be conducting a public
hearing on a proposed ordinance to ban the use of the elephant guide (also
called a bull hook/ankus). The proposed ordinance (attached) would
essentially prohibit all elephant exhibitors from visiting the city of
Austin. As you know, this widely accepted and humane elephant management
tool is absolutely necessary for people to safely work or interact with
elephants in a public setting, whether it is in a circus, at a fair, or in a
zoo. Further, proper use of the elephant guide is a crucial component for
elephant management in breeding and conservation programs and for providing
comprehensive veterinary care. In short, elephants are better off when
they can be cared for in the hands-on manner that this tool allows.
If
the Health and Human Services Committee decides to move forward with this
proposal, the ordinance will go to the full City Council for
consideration. Please take a moment to contact the members of the Austin
City Council with a short e-mail, phone call, or letter, and encourage your
friends and family to do the same – especially those who live in Austin or who
have been to circus performances or elephant exhibits in the city. Please
note that if you wrote to the Austin City Council members at the end of 2014
(when this issue was first being discussed), all but one of the members are new
this year, so this is a great opportunity to let the new Council members know
that you are opposed to this ordinance. Sample talking points for your
correspondence are listed at the end of this alert, but please use your own
words and your own experiences to politely express your opposition to this
elephant ban.
The
City Council roster is below. Individual email addresses are not
available unless you go to the City Council website at http://www.austintexas.gov/government
and click on each member individually. To save time and email all Council
members at once, use this link: http://www.austintexas.gov/mail/all-council-members.
Austin,
TX City Council members:
Mayor
Steve Adler
Mayor
Pro Tem Kathie Tovo
Ora Houston
Delia Garza
Sabino Renteria
Gregorio
Casar
Ann
Kitchen
Don
Zimmerman
Leslie
Pool
Ellen
Troxclair
Sheri
Gallo
Mailing
Address: 301 W. Second Street, Austin, Texas 78701
Phone:
(512)
974-2210 (City Clerk’s Office)
Email
(for all Council members at once): http://www.austintexas.gov/mail/all-council-members
Thank
you!
Sample Talking Points
The
following are suggestions for your correspondence, but please use your own
words, and you do not need to include every bullet point. Please keep all
correspondence respectful.
· Tell
the City Council members that you are OPPOSED to any measure that would prevent
circuses and other travelling exhibitors with elephants from visiting Austin.
· All
animal exhibitors are required to have a United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) exhibitor’s license. USDA conducts regular unannounced
inspections of all performing animals and their stable areas, and their
inspection reports are a matter of public record.
· In
addition, all elephant exhibitors are subject to state and local animal cruelty
laws and permit requirements in the local cities they visit and the state of
Texas. Such regulations provide protection to all performing animals and
allow for the prosecution of those who neglect or mistreat the animals in their
care.
· True
animal experts know that a safe and secure environment is the only acceptable
and successful method of training any animal, including elephants. The
elephant guide, sometimes called a bull hook or ankus, has been used by
elephant handlers for thousands of years. Elephant handlers in zoos,
nature preserves and circuses throughout the world use the guide as an
extension of the trainer’s arm along with a voice command.
· If
any animal is being mistreated in any environment, then the right answer is to
enforce existing laws and regulations to punish bad actors, as opposed to
punishing an entire industry and the public who enjoy circuses.
· Elephants
are an endangered species. Free contact management of elephants allows for
better veterinary care and the most successful elephant breeding programs
utilize free contact and the guide.
· Proponents
of performing animal bans mischaracterize or misunderstand the facts about the
free contact training and handling of elephants. Most of the organizations that
advocate such bans do so as part of a larger, animal rights agenda which
opposes all or most human interaction with animals.
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