September 22, 2014 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: September 22, 2014
(Fort Meade, FL) — “Lydia,” an Asian elephant who was born in the wild in Thailand but spent her entire life in the circus, died in May 2013 in rural Fort Meade, Florida. Her death came to light only recently as a result of a public records request from the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF).
For the last three decades of her life, Lydia was owned by David Tesch, a circus elephant handler.
Beginning in 1998, Lydia spent the summer months performing and giving rides at York’s Wild Kingdom in York Beach, Maine. Lydia “retired” after the 2011 season.
Elephants are intelligent and social animals. In the wild, female elephants stay with their mothers and with their family group for their entire lives. Sadly, Lydia was forced to live alone, traveling the country performing at small venues and with disreputable circuses. Lydia was denied the opportunity to socialize or build relationships with other elephants.
Lydia was approximately 66 years old at the time of her death.
“It is sad that such a magnificent animal, a member of an endangered species, can die alone and unnoticed in a backyard in Polk County,” said ARFF Campaigns Coordinator Nick Atwood. “Lydia’s death heightens our concerns that other solitary elephants in Florida could fall through the cracks after a life of exploitation.”
Currently there are at least three female elephants in Florida living a solitary existence. These elephants deserve retirement to a sanctuary where they could find freedom from constant travel and an opportunity for normal social relationships.
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August 15, 2014 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: August 15, 2014
(Boca Raton, FL) – On opening day of Florida’s alligator hunting season, activists with the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) will protest the sport hunting of alligators at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
In 2014, for the first time, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will allow sport hunting of alligators at the refuge. The hunt is the only alligator hunt in the entire National Wildlife Refuge system.
WHAT: Alligator hunting protest
WHEN: Friday, August 15 at 6:00pm
WHERE: Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, southern entrance; 6 miles west of the junction of Loxahatchee Road (US 827) and US 441
“The Refuge should be a place where alligators and other animals are protected from harm, not hunted for sport or profit,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “The suffering of alligators during public hunts in Florida is undeniable. Alligators are snagged with barbed hooks, pierced with arrows, and stabbed with harpoons. Death is rarely quick and alligators may be left to suffer long after being pulled from the water. It is disgusting that someone would enjoy inflicting pain and causing suffering to an animal.”
Visit ARFF’s website for more information about Florida’s alligator hunt: www.arff.org/alligators
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May 21, 2014 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: May 21, 2014
(Miami Beach, FL) – Wednesday afternoon, May 21, the City of Miami Beach approved a ban on the use of bullhooks*, electric prods, bucking straps and other cruel devices. The ordinance also prohibits the constant chaining of elephants.
With the vote, Miami Beach joined compassionate cities like Hallandale Beach, Hollywood, Lauderdale Lakes, Margate, Pompano Beach and Weston and will no longer tolerate the abuse of elephants, tigers and other captive circus animals by the use of devices that cause pain and suffering.
While Hollywood, Lauderdale Lakes and Weston have completely banned live animal displays, Hallandale Beach, Margate, Pompano Beach — and now the City of Miami Beach — have banned the use of bullhooks or similar devices that circus trainers commonly use against their unwilling performers.
“It is wrong to use pain and the fear of punishment to control elephants,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “Fortunately, an increasing number of zoos, scientists, trainers and animal welfare organizations condemn use of the bullhook in favor of safer and more humane elephant handling methods that rely on positive reinforcement only.”
*A bullhook is a weapon, resembling a fireplace poker, which is used to strike, hook, prod and intimidate elephants into obedience. Elephants are controlled through pain and the fear of punishment.
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May 5, 2014 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: May 5, 2014
(Sarasota, FL) – This morning, the U.S Postal Service will unveil a new series of stamps, “Vintage Circus Posters,” during a ceremony at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota. The stamps reproduce eight posters featuring clowns, trapeze artists, stuntmen, and elephants and tigers. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, America’s largest circus, will participate in the first-day-of-issue ceremony.
The new stamps are unfortunately a celebration of the circus in America, when what is needed is an examination of how the circus was, and continues to be, horrible for animals. In response, the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) has created alternative designs using images from the early 20th century circus. The three designs have been posted on ARFF’s facebook page: www.facebook.com/animalsflorida
How we remember the early American circus is important. Thankfully, the exploitation of people of color and those with physical abnormalities in circus sideshows has stopped. But elephants and other animals continue to suffer in traveling circuses.
“The designs are our attempt at a more honest telling of the history of the circus in America,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “It is important not to forget the cruelty of the early American circus, because, sadly, not much has changed.”
One of ARFF’s designs features “Tusko,” an elephant who was captured in Thailand in the 1890s and shipped to New York. Not surprisingly, following years of mistreatment and being sold from circus to circus, Tusko developed a reputation for aggressiveness. Tusko was cruelly restrained at all times by an elaborate system of chains.
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May 5, 2014 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: May 5, 2014
(Miami, FL) – Tomorrow (Tuesday, May 6), the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners will consider a resolution “authorizing and approving” the sale of the Miami Seaquarium to Festival Fun Parks.
The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) is urging Miami-Dade County to add conditions to the sale that would benefit the Miami Seaquarium’s best-known resident, the orca “Lolita”.
In a letter to Mayor Gimenez and Commissioners, ARFF urged the County to explore releasing Lolita back into the waters of her birth. Marine mammal experts have proposed a plan in which Lolita would be transferred to a coastal sea pen in Washington State, and, once she re-learns the skills necessary for survival, be reunited with her family in the wild. If rehabilitation and release is not possible, ARFF recommended that the Miami Seaquarium and/or Festival Fun Parks be required to bring Lolita’s small tank up to current standards. The tank—just 35 feet wide by 80 feet long—has long been a focus of concern. The tank is the smallest for an orca in North America. ARFF believes that the tank does not meet the minimum dimensions required by the federal Animal Welfare Act.
“Lolita has suffered in the same barren tank at the Miami Seaquarium for close to 45 years,” said ARFF’s Communications Director Don Anthony. “The sale is an opportunity to demand that Lolita be released back into the waters of her birth, a request that has been repeatedly denied by the Seaquarium’s current owners.”
*A copy of ARFF’s letter is available upon request.
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November 18, 2013 | News Releases
For Immediate Release: November 18, 2013
(Crestview, FL) – The Loomis Bros. Circus is in Crestview starting today for four days of shows at Old Spanish Trail Park.
The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida is urging strict enforcement of a City of Crestview ordinance to ensure animal welfare and the safety of circus patrons. The ordinance (Sec. 10-19. Concealment of animals, scientific experimentation and related acts prohibited) states, in part:
“No person may sponsor, promote or train a wild animal to participate in, contribute to the involvement of a wild animal in, or attend as a spectator any activity or event in which any wild animal engages in unnatural behavior … or displayed in such a way that the animal is abused or stressed mentally or physically.”
Animal advocates are particularly concerned about a Loomis Bros. Circus act during which an 8,000 pound, 41-year-old elephant named Okha is forced to stand with all four feet on a ball and balance in place. The act is unnatural, physically stressful, potentially dangerous, and is in clear violation of the city ordinance.
The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) has sent a letter to the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) demanding strict enforcement of the ordinance.
“It is obviously unnatural for an 8,000 pound elephant who was born in the wild in Asia to be forced to balance on a ball during a circus,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “We expect the City of Crestview to enforce its ordinance and prohibit this ridiculous and cruel act.”
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