Jim McMannis- RRECI thread poster... or... defender of the clowns?
google.com
---
Circus Trainer Is Acquitted Of Abusing a Rare Elephant
By GREG WINTER
...
Mr. Gebel and his lawyers contended that he never inflicted a wound, which would have been a violation of California's unusual elephant abuse law, prohibiting excessive discipline with an ankus. Even if he had, the defense argued, the injury amounted to no more than a pinprick on an animal that weighs 8,000 pounds and stands 8 feet tall, hardly enough to constitute cruelty under the law.
''A nickel-sized spot,'' Jim McMannis, one of Mr. Gebel's lawyer, said on Monday as he argued for dismissing the case. ''That's as good as this case is going to get.''
For Ringling Brothers, the acquittal was the latest in a string of victories over the treatment of circus animals. Last April, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Fund for Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute sued the company under the Federal Endangered Species Act, trying to stop it from using elephants in performances. The groups argued that carting the animals around the country in tight cages constituted cruelty. A federal judge dismissed the case, ruling that the groups lacked standing to sue.
--- |
