Trumpetings by Murray Hill  4-05 

Your Opinions Count!  We would like to hear from you and your suggestions will be seriously considered.

• It has come to our attention that the so called animal activists are on a campaign to have elephants removed from the zoos, circuses and any other facilities that they can and placed in their favorite sanctuaries. After reading and hearing their reasons for removal we have come to the conclusion that these people are unknowledgeable, misguided.

• Let us start with a little of the history of two major organizations, Circus and Zoos, and over many years what they have accomplished. It actually started with some odd looking animals reaching our shores and put on display for the public to see. They were called WILD animals and over the years it has been changed to EXOTIC.

• We believe that the first of the two organizations was the circus. In those days they mostly traveled as menageries as we had no idea how to train or perform with these animals. When the first elephants came to this country we did have some knowledge from the Asian people how to train these animals to work as beasts of burden as the Asians have worked elephants for over 5,000 years. In a short period of time small collections of exotic animals were on display in permanent facilities and as this became a popular fare for the public some governments got involved with opening local zoos.

• The original personal with the circuses were mostly uneducated people that in many cases couldn’t get work anywhere else. The zoos were a different situation as these people were mostly city folks but got their jobs through political connections not knowing any more than the circus people. For many years there was friction between the two organizations each claiming to know more about their charges than the other. In fact the zoos were in a better position as they were a permanent structure. In those days these zoos were not much more than a warehouse for animals and in some cases death traps as their facilities were anything but favorable for the animals. It was a job, 9 to 5, five days a week and get my pay. The animal’s indoor cages were small concrete cubicles with bars for the public to observe the animals, and the continuation of the concrete outside with a slide door to separate the inside from the outside for the animals to get outside in good weather.

• The Circus was a different world. The owners, trainers and handlers depended on their livelihood through proper care of their animals. Many mistakes were made in the early years but knowledge came quickly when their animals could not work and feed their families. The training of animals to perform was a hit and miss situation done by trial and error as the Asians were only interested in the elephant as a beast of burden. The first performing training methods were difficult and hard on both the animal and the trainers but as time went on easier and more humane methods were discovered and used. The circus animal person lived with their animals 24/7.

• In the early years even diets were not known for these exotic animals. Many died from lack of proper foods. But as time went on finally there was interest in these animals from scientists and veterinarians and we quickly learned proper diets. The primates are the best example. As late as the 1950's it was still believed among some animal people that all primates were vegetarians. How little we knew then.

• Up until the middle of the 1950's to the early 1960's it was the circus that lead the way in propagation of some of these species. The first controlled breeding of chimpanzees and later on the first controlled breeding of elephants came from the circus.

• While the circus animals traveled, worked and performed it proved that they were much healthier physically and mentally than the zoo animal that languished in a small cubical and nothing to do. This was especially hard on the more intelligent animals.

• About the time of the middle 1960's the zoos realized that these animals were entitled to a better and a more comfortable way of life not to mention that zoos drew more public attendance than all of the sports. More educated, and interested zoo directors were hired to upgrade their facilities which led to better care takers. In some cases retired circus trainers and handlers were hired to teach the zoo personal to work with their animals to alleviate boredom . New displays were constructed to make the animals feel more at home and given much more freedom. It wasn’t long that the local zoos showed progress and then there was volunteers that would help and organizations that would work with the zoos, all for the betterment of the animals. Today many of these outside organizations are actually running the zoos in coordination with their local governments.

• In the very early 1970's the Congress of the U.S. gave the U.S.D.A.. the job of regulating the exhibition and medical invasion of other than domestic animals. I attended the meeting with the U.S.D.A. that claimed they wanted help from our industries to help write proper rules and regulations for the humane handling of animals. The first inspectors were U.S.D.A. veterinarians and they were good at their job and learned quickly what was good and what had to be changed. This in our opinion, was good. As in every profession there is a bad apple and this would work them out of the industry. But in a short time there wasn’t enough veterinarians to do the job and the A.P.H.I.S. division of the U.S.D.A. started hiring civilians that in most cases knew absolutely nothing about exotic animals. With all the promises that was made at that meeting soon were retracted and the whole animal industry was double crossed.

• In the middle 1970's the zoos were already changing and updating their facilities and now many of them had veterinarians on either retainer or salaried employees. These proved to be dedicated people with the sincerest interest in these animals.

• It took this long for people to understand that the gene pool on many of these animals are disappearing at an alarming rate. It was the zoos and some private facilities and even circus that started working on the propagation of these animals so that they won’t become extinct. In a very short period of time they made tremendous accomplishments in helping to preserve some of these animals. There is much more to learn in all fields of the animals but at this point we at least have a start.

• There are some sanctuaries that have reverted, in a modern humane way, of warehousing some of these animals. There are some that are interested in the breeding to guarantee the survival of species, and then there are some that can and have rehabilitated privately some behavioral animals and put them but in front of the public. All of this takes money which is the bottom line. Then there are sanctuaries that just let their elephants roam free but object to breeding, or even training.

• According to some of the experts by the time your grandchildren’s, grandchildren the elephant will become extinct in captivity due to an extreme shortage of the gene pool. In not too long a period they will also become extinct in their native lands. Most of the exotic animals that we have in captivity come from third world countries and many of them have severe problems with poaching, over population and in some countries civil war. There are some countries that still cull their elephants to keep their populations down.

• We applaud any sanctuary that accepts animals in need and give them a proper home and a stress free environment to live out their lives in peace and the comfort they deserve.

• We do take issue with these favorite sanctuaries that criticize not only other sanctuaries that work their elephants in one form or another, zoos, circuses and other facilities for breeding and helping to keep the species alive. We also take issue with unknowledgeable people that claim brutality and abuse to elephants with them not ever having any experience with the animal.

• It is very true that the wild elephant does cover many miles a day in search of food and water. When they find their food and water they don’t wander until it runs out. Then they are in search again. It is called survival. In captivity they don’t have to search for their food and water as they get excellent special nutritional foods and the water is always drinkable. This shows up in a healthier elephant in captivity than their counter part in their native lands.

• We’re sure that there is a zoo or a circus or a private facility that should not have elephants. But is that a reason to paint the whole industry bad and cater to just a few that basically are warehousing these animals. But the big majority of these facilities are doing a great job. There is a bad apple in every barrel.

• There is still much that we have to learn about the animals but we can’t if they become extinct. These so called animal activists harp on the fact that these animals are unhappy, brutalized and mistreated. HOW DO THEY KNOW? By listening to someone on their side of the fence? There are at least two sides to every story. We don’t think that they know how much damage they are doing not just to the industry but to the animal itself.

• We appreciate the help we receive from our supporters and those of you that might join our ranks. Should you have any questions I would be more than happy to answer. We are also interested in your responsible ideas and input.