The New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (NJARA) has schedule the protests during Ringling Bros. Circus shows at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey:

Wednesday, March 7, 6:30 PM-8:30 PM (7:30 PM Show) Opening Show
Thursday, March 8, 6:30 PM-8:00 PM (7:30 PM Show)
Friday, March 9, 6:30 PM-8:00 PM (7:30 PM Show)
Saturday, March 10, 2:00 PM-4:00 PM (3:00 PM Show)
Sunday, March 11, 6:30 PM-8:00 PM (7:30 PM Show)
Monday, March 12, 6:30 PM-8:00 PM (7:30 PM Show) Last Show

Please RSVP to Claudia Rose (or 917-664-0516) if you would like to attend. For more information on animal circuses please visit circuses.com.

I interviewed Claudia Rose, chair of the Circus Committee of the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, via e-mail on March 2.

SWT: NJARA has clearly been involved in protesting against the abuse
of circus animals for years.  Are the upcoming demonstrations the 
first of their kind that NJARA has engaged in against Ringling Bros.?

Claudia Rose: No, we had demonstrations against Ringling (East Rutherford) and
UniverSoul (Newark) and Ringling (New York City) last year when they came into our communities. This year
it's ever more important since Ringling's own employees have come forward and spoke
out against daily animal cruelty. The employees have said Ringling will fire them if they
speak out about any of the abuse inflicted on the animals. Some facts
www.circuses.com/pdfs/
RinglingFactsheet.pdf

I, too, have seen first hand the beatings inflicted on the elephants last
year in Trenton, New Jersey, before the elephants went into the ring.  Ringling trainers always try
to hide the bull hook from public view, but you can't hide the screams from the elephants as
they are being poked, and stabbed by the three-foot rod, with a steel spike and hook at
the end.

SWT: Why is the treatment of circus animals such a critical animal rights issue, in your view? 

CR: Animal rights people believe that animals, whether it's a cat, pig or
elephant deserve our respect as they share the earth with us. They are not only like us in
many ways, but we have so much to learn from them. Because they can't talk, we take advantage
of their lives for profit, and destroy, and wound them forever. A person is not a whole
human being unless one can be humane to the two legged, winged and finned animals. To do
otherwise, that human being is broken and not whole and living in peace.

What's critical here is that the Female Asian elephants and tigers used
are endangered animals. Ringling shoud be trying to protect them in the wild, not
torturing and killing them off as they have been doing for profit. Ringling claims to have a
conservation center for the elephants, but instead they deceive the public by using the baby
elephants for the circus.

Animal circuses are such an unnecessary form of entertainment, and
claimed by Ringling to be family entertainment. When one buys a ticket to a Ringling show you
and your family are supporting animal cruelty. All that is natural to the wild and exotic
animals is taken away.  These animals live in horrid conditions all year-round, chained and in
live in spaces where they can barely turn around. There are animal-free circuses that are so
much more entertaining and have great human performers. Watching an elephant or
lion who was torn away from its mother as a baby and forced by a bullhook, electric prod or
whip to do tricks is not entertainment; it's cruelty.

SWT: Detail different aspects of the treatment of these animals.

CR: The behind the scenes training is what animal circuses hide from the
public. All kinds of training devices are used on the animals to dominate them into
submission.  Imagine someone using a bullhook, whip, electric prod, or bat on your back and
legs to make you stand on a pedestal or jump through a hoop of fire. Imagine you do not
even understand why you had to follow these commands, and imagine feeling the pain in
your body from doing these tricks several times a day.  Before every performance you
are being beaten, poked, threatened and screamed at by angry, unstable trainers. You never
get a moment to walk in freedom. You get arthritis, and your feet literally fall apart
from standing on hard concrete surfaces for the rest of your life.

Imagine yourself traveling 11 months out of the year in trucks and
train cars through extreme hot and cold temperatures.  Imagine knowing that Heather, a
beautiful Asian elephant, your friend, died from being confined in a boxcar with
temperatures over 102 degrees while traveling to the next arena.  Heather is just one of 24
elephants who have died through neglect and abuse in the past 10 years; some were baby
elephants.  
      
SWT: Do you know how many people are expected to attend the
circus itself on these dates?   How large a portion of New Jersey
entertainment seekers do you realistically hope to reach through
these demonstrations?

CR:  Thousands of people will attend the circus. Last year we handed out
over a thousand flyers and more saw our presence and our signs. Attendance overall has
gone down with animal circuses, and the more educated the public becomes, then the more it will
continue to go down.

SWT: Do you have specific goals as to the number of demonstrators at
each circus show?
 
CR: We just ask for as many people to participate as they can. Several
families will join us over the days we demonstrate. 
 

SWT: Who will be the featured speakers at the demonstrations? Will any former Ringling Bros. employees speak?
  
CR: We will show an undercover video of circus elephant training.  It is
very hard to watch, but this is the reality of using animals in circuses.
  
SWT: In your Web description of the demonstrations, you encourage
children and students to attend.   How much of an impact do you
think the circus still has on children's minds and hearts?   What
other efforts are you leading to educate children about the
treatment of circus animals?

CR: Children don't know better, so it's up to educated adults to speak for
them.  The impact Ringling and Universoul, etc.,  have on children is very
deceitful.  The shows tell children that it's all right to think of them as objects to use for fun.
When children find out that the animals perform out of fear and
intimidation, they are against it. We are working on some ideas to educate the public at
large and are certainly open to any suggestions to reach that goal. 
   
SWT:  How much profit is at stake for Ringling Bros. in this case? 
Do you have any goals in terms of persuading people with circus
tickets to boycott the shows?

SWT: Ringling will continue to lie about their treatment of animals. They
have over 100 animal welfare violations for neglect, abuse and deaths.  As long as they
continue to lie to the public, they will continue to have to spend thousands of dollars to cover it
up.  Ringling is owned by Feld Entertainment, a father and daughter team. The daughter uses her
blood money from the circus animals by having a luxury condo in Washington, DC.

Some people did boycott the show last year because of our presence, and
we will just continue to educate people and ask them to do the right thing and
boycott Ringling. 

SWT: What other avenues have you engaged in or explored in terms
of combating or otherwise dealing with Ringling Bros. and other circuses?  
Is there ongoing legal action against Ringling Bros. and other
circuses?  

CR: We are not alone; there are many local activists in many states who
coordinate demonstrations against Ringling when they come to their towns.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI)
(www.awionline.org/wildlife/elephants/rbsuit.htm), ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and the Fund for Animals (FFA), and Tom Rider, a former Ringling
employee, currently have a lawsuit brought under the Endangered Species Act for Ringling's
mistreatment of animals.

SWT: Precisely how does Ringling Bros.' animal rights record stack
up to that other major circus companies?

CR: Ringling's track record is atrocious, and any circus with animals has
animal welfare violations against them. The USDA oversees animals, in circuses and zoos, but
rarely enforces the laws, or it's usually after the fact when the animals are dead.

SWT: What kind of responses have this effort generated, if any,
from New Jersey politicians and other public officials?

CR: We hope to soon work politically for the circus animals. 
  
SWT: Will other animal rights groups be participating in the
demonstrations?   If so, which ones?

God's Creatures Ministry (www.all-creatures.org/gcm/scriptures.html),
NYCAnimalRights (www.nycanimalrights.com), and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), (www.circuses.com).
 
SWT: How much of a media presence do you expect at these demonstrations?  

CR: We don't know, but we will invite them.

SWT: What are your plans in terms of continuing to confront Ringling Bros. and other circuses after March 12?

CR: Ringling is in our area (New York City and Newark) through March and April,
and UniverSoul Circus is in NYC this month, and in Newark, NJ, in May, so we will continue to
educate and expose their long list of animal cruelty.

SWT: How would you respond to animal liberationists who might
argue that the best course of action would be to attempt to
directly liberate the captive animals?

CR: NJ-ARA and all other animal rights groups work on educating the public
to encourage them to make a compassionate choice and do right for the animals.  Personally, I
believe that there will always be people who will take direct action to liberate animals.
I understand how they feel, that one's life, whether human or animal, should not suffer, and if
they have the means to stop their suffering, then they have the power to make a difference as we
are trying to do.  Making a difference, leaving a better world for people and animals is
our goal.
SWT: What can concerned citizens who will not be able to attend
the protests do to help Ringling Bros. animals?

CR: 1. First, never attend a circus with animals.
2. Join a local group that helps animals and particpate via email or
letter writing.
NJ-ARA.org is our local group that has done much for the animals
through education,
politically, continues to grow and is there to help you help the
animals in our state.
3. Educate yourselves so you can educate others about circus animal
cruelty. There are many Websites and groups on the Internet to help you with that,
www.circuses.com (for example) and start your own blog and help the circus animals.
4. Write to your local paper and speak out against exploiting the
animals for entertainment.

SWT: Thank you very much for your time, Claudia.

For further information, go to http://www.nj-ara.org.