AR-SF: From Today's NYTimes: Elephant Trainer on Trial in Abuse Case

[Guest guest]

Could not agree more. None of these stories would have

ever taken place had it not been for one local

activist. She has been doing exceptional PR work for

us local activists to get it all over the news. She

has done interviews with channel 2, 4, 5, 7, Fox, CNN,

The NY Times, all the local papers, etc. If anyone is

interested, most of the newspapers have been at the

trial since yesterday. CNN was the big one there

today. Opening arguements began today after jury

selection was completed. Just in case anyone is

interested in watching the trial, it is at the San

Jose court house, room 51, 4th floor. Mark Oliver

Gabel has his entire team of Ringling lawyers and PR

folks there. INCREDIBLE!!!!!

 

Bob

 

--- " Chandna, Alka " <alka.chandna wrote:

> Dear Friends,

>

> Today's NY Times features a story on the cruelty

> case filed against a circus

> trainer with Ringling Brothers. This was covered

> yesterday on NPR as well.

> Given the PR spin agents at Ringling, it's

> *miraculous* that this case was

> not dismissed by the judge. This is our opportunity

> to write letters to

> various media outlets (beginning with the NYTimes:

> letters)

> indicating that from its very foundation, keeping

> circus animals

> necessitates kidnapping animals from the wild,

> breaking the animal's spirit

> through torture and abuse, and then desensitizing

> children to the fact that

> animals are creatures deserving of respect, through

> the absurd use of

> magnificent beings in demeaning and degrading acts.

> Please take 5 minutes

> (the NY Times has a strict policy of keeping letters

> to under 150 words, so

> this really takes very little time) to fire off a

> letter to the NY Times,

> advocating on behalf of the elephants. If you go

> over to the article

>

(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/18/national/18ELEP.html?ei=1 & en=98ff62bd59dd

> 757c & ex=1009692662 & pagewanted=print), you'll be

> appalled to see the

> photograph of the trainer who is currently being

> charged. He's posing with

> the elephant in a seeming gesture of mutual

> affection. It's enough to make

> anyone want to projectile vomit across the room.

> Really, it's an absolute

> sham, and the media & the public needs to hear from

> us. Please, please,

> please write right now.

>

> Thanks,

> Alka

>

> December 18, 2001

> Elephant Trainer on Trial in an Abuse Case

> By GREG WINTER

> SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 17 - Trading the red tuxedo

> tails that characterize

> his public appearances for a conservative black

> suit, Mark Oliver Gebel, one

> of the biggest stars of the Ringling Brothers and

> Barnum & Bailey circus,

> went on trial today on charges that he abused an

> Asian elephant when the

> " greatest show on earth " marched through here this

> summer.

> The case against Mr. Gebel - the 31-year-old son of

> the legendary lion tamer

> Gunther Gebel-Williams, who died earlier this year -

> stems from an incident

> here in August during the grand finale of a circus

> performance. While

> parading a trail of elephants in from the parking

> lot outside, Mr. Gebel

> lunged at the leader, Asia, with a three-foot-long

> hook, according to court

> documents, puncturing it on the left front leg.

> The defense dismisses the cut as a " pinprick " on an

> 8,000-pound elephant

> that is eight feet tall. At most, the charges, which

> were first filed by the

> local humane society, carry a six- month jail

> sentence and a $1,000 fine.

> But the fact that they were brought at all has

> emboldened animal rights

> groups around the country and worried Ringling

> Brothers.

> For the first time in the circus's 132-year history,

> a private nonprofit

> animal welfare group has succeeded in having

> criminal charges brought

> against it, setting a precedent that is shifting the

> battle about animals

> under the big top from legislation and lawsuits into

> the criminal courts.

> " That's why we're fighting it so hard, " said

> Catherine Ort-Mabry, a company

> spokeswoman, who emphasized Mr. Gebel's innocence.

> Ringling Brothers is

> owned by Feld Entertainment, which also operates

> Walt Disney's World on Ice

> and Siegfried and Roy's tiger show in Las Vegas.

> At the opening of the trial today, Judge Linda R.

> Condron of Santa Clara

> County Superior Court rejected a defense motion to

> dismiss the charges,

> setting the stage for jury selection.

> This is not the only time that Ringling Brothers,

> which boasts of having the

> largest herd of Asian elephants outside Asia, has

> been accused of

> mistreating its animals.

> Since 1990 the circus has been investigated 14 times

> by the Department of

> Agriculture for violations of the Federal Animal

> Welfare Act. But it has

> rarely faced the administrative charges that the

> agency is empowered to

> bring.

> A more sustained challenge to Ringling Brothers has

> come instead from the

> many advocacy groups that push for an end to circus

> herds, arguing that

> forcing rare animals to traverse the country in

> tight cages by train

> constitutes cruelty by itself.

> In April, the American Society for the Prevention of

> Cruelty to Animals, the

> Fund for Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute

> sued the circus under the

> Federal Endangered Species Act to stop it from using

> elephants altogether.

> Ringling Brothers emerged victorious when a federal

> judge determined that

> the groups did not have standing to bring the suit.

> Now Ringling Brothers contends that animal welfare

> advocates who are biased

> against the circus are improperly using their

> limited police powers under

> state law to bring criminal charges against Mr.

> Gebel.

> " These are not law-enforcement people, " said Jim

> McMannis, Mr. Gebel's

> lawyer. " This is a private organization that has an

> agenda and the power to

> bring someone before the court. "

> Christine Benninger, the executive director of the

> Humane Society of Santa

> Clara Valley, the group that originally filed the

> charges, dismissed any

> suggestion of impropriety, noting that its

> inspectors were just as concerned

> with catching runaway animals as they were with

> spotting abuse.

> In California, as in some other states,

> investigators for groups like the

> humane society have the power to issue citations and

> file charges for crimes

> against animals. Those charges can then be pursued

> by local prosecutors.

> " We're here to enforce the law, " Ms. Benninger said,

> " and that's basically

> all we're doing. "

> Two years ago the society tried to have charges

> brought against Ringling

> Brothers after its inspectors noticed cuts and scars

> behind the elephants'

> ears as they marched into a show. Because no one

> actually saw any abuse take

> place, though, the district attorney refused to

> press charges.

> This time both a San Jose police sergeant and a

> humane society inspector

> said they saw Mr. Gebel yell at the elephants and

> lunge at them with the

> hook, called an ankus, according to court records.

> " I could see the pink fleshy part of her skin where

> it had been gouged out, "

> said Christine Franco, the inspector who cited Mr.

> Gebel.

> With witnesses to support the charges, Carolyn

> Powell, a Santa Clara County

> deputy district attorney, took the case.

> In filings, Mr. Gebel's lawyers argued that the

> " nickel-size red bloody

> spot " that appeared on the elephant's leg

> disappeared after being washed,

> leaving no trace of a wound.

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

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