Animal Control greenlights Hadi Shrine Circus as controversy around elephant act remains
EVANSVILLE — An Evansville Animal Care & Control inspection Wednesday offered one answer, at least, to persistent questions and controversy about the use of animals at the Hadi Shrine Circus.
Two Animal Control officers awarded the circus its exhibition permit to go forward after an act-by-act inspection carried out at Ford Center Wednesday afternoon. The officers concerned themselves with such things as USDA paperwork, vaccinations, bloodwork, health certificates — and bull hooks for elephants. They're not allowed under city ordinance.
The circus begins Thursday.
The inspectors were accompanied into restricted animal housing areas by City Councilwoman Missy Mosby, the council's longtime liaison to Animal Control and founder of rescue group Buddy's Promise — Furever Home.
Mosby compared the circus animals' interactions with their handlers to the excited reactions she gets from her nine pet dogs when she arrives home. The councilwoman said she must go through inspections herself to be permitted for that many pets.
"The elephants, their tails would wag, their ears would – they get real attentive and their trunks would swirl up to try to touch their handler," Mosby said. "The camels, when the trainers and staff were in there cleaning, they all came up around them.
“It’s amazing to me. They have people sleep in the tents to make sure the animals are OK overnight. These animals are very well taken care of.”
Organizers of the three-ring circus, now in its 89th year, insist it is so purposefully humane that human performers don't get as good a deal as the roughly 20 elephants, buffalo, camels and ponies on hand.
"It’s funny, I had a circus performer tell me today that what people don’t understand is the animals are actually treated better than the performers a lot of times – that they eat before they do, they water before they do and they’re taken care of before performers are, because that’s how much they care for them," Hadi Shrine spokesman Dale Thomas said Wednesday.
But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known as PETA, have blasted Evansville's Hadi Shrine circus for years, and 2023 is no different.
In April, PETA said one of its supporters "crashed" a Hadi Shriners black-tie event in Evansville while holding a sign reading, "Hadi Shriners Support Animal Abuse."
"The animal ally chanted and urged the Shriners to stop forcing tormented animals to perform in Shrine circuses, before being manhandled by security," PETA representative David Perle wrote in a news release detailing the incident.
PETA and other animal rights advocates argue that the Hadi Shrine Circus forces animals to perform painful stunts under threats of violence, among other allegations.
Hadi Shrine International has repeatedly denied such allegations.
Earlier this year, two of Hadi Shrine Circus' top sponsors, nutritional company DSM and paint manufacturer PPG, severed ties with the well-known circus. Sherwin-Williams, according to PETA, advised its local businesses in Evansville to do the same.
In November, plastics company Polyram Group reportedly ended its financial support for Hadi Shrine circuses, too.
Some animals used in the local circus come from Carson & Barnes Circus, a Hugo, Oklahoma, company. A page on PETA's website spells out a list of instances when Carson & Barnes has faced sanctions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or state authorities.
Those included a 2021 incident Oklahoma in which a visitor was injured during an elephant encounter, and a 2018 issue in which a handler in Missouri was accused of forcing the elephants to stand on asphalt in nearly 90-degree weather without access to shade.
The local Shrine and others across the country support Shriners Hospitals for Children.
"I think it’s very interesting that every year we’ve got 20,000-25,000 people inside enjoying the show, and there’s eight or 10 outside protesting it," Thomas said.
Rather than go to circuses to protest, Thomas said, PETA could use its time and zeal for animal rights more productively.
"If they want to change something, go to the state Legislature and change the law," he said. "We follow the law to the letter every year."
Hadi Shrine Circus schedule, ticket information
What: Hadi Shrine Circus
When: Performances are at 5 p.m. Thanksgiving Day; at 9:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Nov. 24 and Nov. 25, and at 3 p.m. on Nov. 26.
Where: Ford Center
Tickets: Tickets at the door are $22. When bought directly from a member of Hadi Shrine, they are $18. They are available at Ford Center box office or through Ticketmaster. Visit hadishrinecircus.com/tickets for more information.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Animal Control gives thumbs up to Evansville circus amid elephant act
