TNT's Ringling Reality Series: Sickest Show On Earth?

I read with great interest -- and greater horror -- that one component of TNT's new plan to expand the network's slate of original programming is an unscripted series set aboard the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train that transports the performers and animals from show to show.

That sound you're hearing may be the bottom of the barrel scraping -- or it could be the moaning of an elephant being abused.

Sure, the unscripted-series barrel has been dredged ever deeper over the years, so that, now, darn near anything constitutes a reality show. If you're intrigued by, say, who Chef Ramsay will next scream at, or which young lady will be selected to rock Bret Michaels' world, hey, Godspeed.

Similarly, I certainly can't keep you from watching this forthcoming TNT program about Ringling entitled, predictably enough, The Greatest Show On Earth. And I'm mindful that criticizing any sort of work--particularly if fueled by moral outrage -- before seeing, reading, hearing that work is the province of the lunkhead.

But I don't really seek to criticize this TNT series, and my outrage toward Ringling isn't particularly elevated after hearing about the show -- it's always pretty damn high.

In answer to the question that must've popped up right about now -- who the hell is this guy? -- I'm a father, a passionate animal lover, and host of "Talking Animals," a radio program about animals I launched in 2003 on KUCI in Irvine, CA and now airs on WMNF, an NPR station in Tampa, FL.

So, here are some defining Ringling Bros. traits that, even allowing for the often-altered reality of reality show, may lend this new TNT series an undercurrent of darkness.

Ringling has a long record of animal abuse, most notoriously toward its elephants, which spend most of their time shackled in chains or squeezed into boxcars. Aboard the circus train - -center stage of the new series, remember -- boxcars are often cramped, poorly ventilated, and the elephants stand for long stretches chained in their own waste.

Their training is fear-driven, revolving around punishing and hurting the animals. The main weapon of education is the bull hook, or ankus -- picture a heavy, sharp fireplace poker -- and the trainers hit the elephants, often repeatedly, with the bull hook in various parts of their body, so that they comply, so they "learn." These scenes should make for some terrific television

If you simply find it impossible to believe what I'm saying about Ringling's routine animal abuse, no offense taken. It is almost too horrific to believe.

But a few minutes of online research -- start by Googling such innocuous words as "circus" and "animals" - -will yield a torrent of verifying results, documents, references to lawsuits against Ringling for their mistreatment of the elephants (including numerous former employees serving as whistleblowers) and spools of footage, undercover and otherwise. Regarding footage, I'd be remiss if I didn't cite the award-winning piece on Ringling and its abuse of Asian elephants by veteran television journalist and frequent Huffington Post contributor Leslie Griffith, who has won nine local Emmys and two Edward R. Murrow Awards.

I guess I'm also curious about how the new series will present the information that Ringling owner Kenneth Feld has known for more than a decade that many of its elephants have M-tuberculosis -- the same kind of tuberculosis carried by and transmitted to humans -- and that these elephants are allowed to tour (hey, more fascinating stories aboard the train) and to perform.

"The show must go on" adage takes on a complex new dimension when the show in question is posing a public health threat of, well, elephantine proportions.

Oh, sure, Feld and his lieutenants may tell you, on camera or otherwise, that elephants with TB are pulled from the show -- from the train -- and quarantined. The problem is that one can't accurately diagnose an elephant with TB while he or she is alive -- so-called "trunk washings" are imprecise, and, as you might imagine, it's a little impractical to give a chest x-ray to an elephant.

Perhaps you're thinking that this TB information, too, seems improbable. But Feld and his team are brilliant at marketing, and part of their genius is the deft way they get into bed with media outlets--one upshot is that you almost never see tough, much less investigative, reporting on Ringling.

Again, it will take you mere minutes of research to verify the TB situation, and once more I refer you to the work of Leslie Griffith, the journalist I think has done the best reporting on Ringling in recent years: This written piece includes e-mails and memos by veterinarians and USDA investigators expressing concern over TB in Ringling elephants.

Gosh, endemic animal abuse and exposing audiences to TB seem to amount to blights on Ringling's carefully-cultivated image as family entertainment. But I hope I don't seem too cynical if I predict these elements may not get tremendous airplay on the TNT series.

Perhaps they'll get their due attention in another TV project or documentary film on Ringling -- may I suggest a working title of "The Sickest Show On Earth" ??

Comments

[Bijou1105]

Ringling Brothers Circus panders to less than sophisticated audiences who fall for their sappy drivel.
They do not bother to inform the audience that they will stand trial for animal abuse this year. The Animal Welfare Institute has filed charges against Ringling Brothers for violation of the federal Endangered Species Act, based on witnessed abuses and cruelty to Asian elephants. Former Ringling Brothers employees who quit (not fired) did so because the animal cruelty they witnessed on a daily basis became unbearable to them. These witnesses have given sworn testimony to the U.S. Department of Agriculture as recently as October 2006. Video footage documenting the cruelty and abuse is widely available for viewing and can not be erased by Ringling. Over twenty Asian elephants have died in the "care" of Ringling Brothers since 1992, and not of natural causes.

In 2004, Thomas Allen Riccio, aka "Spanky" the Clown, of Ringling Brothers Circus, was arrested on charges stemming from a child pornography investigation.

Spread the word to everyone you know, particularly groups who might be considering a trip to the circus. Urge them to visit Cirque de Soleil, or other no-animal circuses.
In the twenty-first century, we should be teaching our children compassion and respect for all animals, rather than more ways to exploit them. I am hopeful that the days of exotic animals in circuses or other forms of "entertainment" are numbered. But what will Ringling Brothers do with all the elephant sized sequined g-strings?

[QueenCeleste]

Bless you Duncan Strauss! Each year when I hear advertisements for the circus I just cringe. Do people going to the "Cruelest Show on Earth" simply not care about the horrific abuses? I'm sure children would be terribly upset by what happens to the magnificent animals they watch, but their parents who presumably know about the cruelty don't seem phased.

DemandTruth: If a circus comes to your town you might join an animal welfare group handing out leaflets stating the abuses Mr. Strauss outlined. You might also look at the website of PAWS, the Performing Animal Welfare Society. It is a sanctuary for former circus and zoo animals whose founder works tirelessly for performing animals.

[3fingerbrown]

You might also direct protests toward the National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA). The organization presents itself as a group of individuals who are concerned with government encroachment on the rights of animal owners, but it's actually an umbrella group of big businesses who wish to exploit animals with minimal government regulation (humane treatment can be expensive). Ringling Brothers is a charter member, as are rodeos, furriers, and other animal-based industries. The organization has every right to exist (every legal business has the right to band together with similar businesses to most effectively petition the government), but the NAIA's sneakiness about exactly who its members are makes me wonder what else they have to hide.

[closerlook]

TNT must be desperate to have gotten to this low point. I guess TNT lacks talented/creative, programming folks. In case you (or TNT) cares to see the REALITY of RIDING on the RINGLING TRAIN visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7zT8JK0B4 ....

[JScott]

So why is this news, doesn't anyone remember about a slaughterhouse called
Hallmark-Westland, or does everyone have a short memory.

Stories about animal abuse come up all the time, but (especially in the case of food)
we're so removed from the sources (and in this case even more 'fluff'-entertainment, not food)
that most supermarket shoppers become blissfully ignorant.

You can bet that if folks knew all the grisly details, we'd all be vegetarians and watch Circque De Soleil and not Ringling Bros. But then again I guess this post is the point.......never mind.

[LoRiseAntlers]

When I read or hear you addressing how PETA kills thgousands of animals every year for no good reason,I might start giving you the time of day.

[Mindburner]

This article was not about the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, it was about people for the ethical treatment of animals. If someone uses the former as an excuse to not be one of the latter, that is a disturbing personal issue.

[Bushgoesnucular]

Thanks for publicizing the horror behind these disgusting exploitations of these poor creatures. It is a sad commentary on our species that in the 21st century we permit this cruelty to continue,

[DemandTruth]

This is horrible. I've had it up to my heart's eyeballs with all the torture and despair in the world. Is there a petition or something I can do to help these poor creatures? Enough of torture of humans and animals alike. It's high time we redefined the word "humane" because it cannot mean what I think it means, and it turns out that humans are anything but.

[hopeless277]

I wonder if they will show the penis bongs in the clown quarters aborad the train?