County leaning toward ban on exotic animals in circuses

Circuses featuring lions, tigers, bears, elephants and other exotic animals could be banned from Douglas County by the end of the summer, Douglas County commissioners indicated Wednesday night.

Commissioners said they were leaning toward adopting a ban proposed by Animals Outreach of Kansas, a Lawrence-based organization.

Organization leaders maintain that the training of such animals is inherently cruel to the animals and excessively risky for public safety.

“Dominance and violence turn these animals into ticking time bombs,” said Ann Wilson, an Animal Outreach co-founder.

The ban would affect only circuses with exotic animals. Shows featuring dogs, miniature horses and other domesticated animals would not be affected, nor would 4-H competitions, petting zoos, rodeos or events and operations otherwise involved in the agricultural community.

“We don’t want to affect agriculture in Douglas County,” said Mary Prewitt, an Animal Outreach member. “We’re not stupid. We know there are a lot of possibilities that wouldn’t fly here.”

All three commissioners indicated that they were willing to approve a ban on exotic animals in circuses. Charles Jones, commission chairman, supports the ban as proposed, but Commissioners Jere McElhaney and Bob Johnson said they wanted to be sure that leaders in the agricultural community would get a chance to digest the proposal before it became law.

Commissioners intend to vote on the proposed ban July 14.

“Given a little time,” Johnson said, “I think we can arrive at something that will work.”

Midge Grinstead, director of the Lawrence Humane Society, said that she had responded in recent years to several complaints of animal cruelty at circuses in the county. Among them: an event in Eudora where animals were cooped up in tractor-trailers and forced to drink water from holes dug out from the animals’ own feces.

Reports elsewhere of elephants breaking away from handlers and tigers attacking trainers are not surprising, she said, given the commonplace conditions.

“I meet the dregs of humanity a lot of times,” Grinstead told commissioners.

“They use animals to make lots of money, and when that’s the goal, the public’s safety is at risk.”

In other action Wednesday, commissioners agreed to allocate $6,000 to help finance operations for ECO2, a county group charged with fostering development of industrial land and preservation of open space in the county.