PEORIA -- Here is an eyewitness account of cruelty to animals at the Heart of Illinois Fair, now playing at Expositions Gardens, from Monica Ball. She also took photographs, which may be posted later.
"I took my kids to the fair on Sunday, partly to personally see the conditions and treatment of the elephants and tigers being exploited there.
The (man) caught on camera teaching handlers to beat elephants, the only way they can be trained to perform ridiculous, unnatural tricks, is the father of the owner of the company that has the wild animals at the fair.
We watched an elephant show. My son said he saw the handler hit the elephant and of course he always had the bullhook in his hand as a reminder to the elephant of previous abuse. He also positioned himself on the opposite side of the elephant from where the majority of the crowd was. From the side where we were, we had a good view of him though.
The stupid tricks (kicking a beachball, shooting a basket, painting, etc.) showed and/or taught nothing about elephants, their natural behavior or natural life.
After the "show," the elephants exhibited the swaying behavior associated with extreme stress, isolation, boredom.
Also, right next to their enclosure, there was the frequent extremely loud revving engines of the tractor pulls. (I'll try to resist from mentioning how moronic I think these things are.) Anyway, I can hear that noise loudly at my home almost a mile away.
Imagine the discomfort this loud noise causes animals with such advanced hearing they can communicate miles away through low frequency rumbling noises.
The enclosure was small, no water was available, and the elephants were separated from the public by only some thin string and a flimsy fence, a public safety issue.
I asked the handler why they didn't have access to water and he was extremely defensive and rude. He admitted that it was because it would make more of a mess to clean up.
He actually asked why my kids didn't have access to water at all times (because their drinks happened to be empty).
The elephants didn't want to be anywhere near him and backed away when he was anywhere close (without the bullhook after the show).
From his behavior to me, and the way the elephants swayed and just looked vacant, I was sick to my stomach to think about their treatment and their lives with that man.
There were also tigers pacing back and forth which of course would never happen outside of captivity.
I stayed at the elephant enclosure a long time, took some pictures, and basically just let my presence and few comments show these abusive people that not everyone is ignorant of what they're doing.
If anyone can make it to the fair to do the same, I think it would be positive. I don't like the idea of my ticket price supporting this act, but I do think it's necessary to check the condition of the animals and be a witness to any cruelty.
By the way, the elephants were filthy and clearly hadn't been bathed for some time. There was no provision for exercise for them other than a small area that would take them 10 seconds to walk from one end to the other."
This is outrageous. Why should this type of traveling animal show appear at the fair? It has no educational purpose and enables the abuse of these animals whose lives must be hellish.
Local animal advocates say they plan to contact the Humane Society and PETA about this show. They also should contact Peoria officials so this type of show does not return.
--Elaine Hopkins
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