A human drama played out in the Seattle City Council chamber last month.
The drama followed fresh on the heels of violent World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings, which were attended by environmentalist activists and shocked the outside world.
Within just weeks of the WTO gathering, Seattle had been chosen by animal rights activists as the first city in the United States where the circus would be banned from coming to town.
In Canada, the city of Toronto was first. When city council voted in favour of the circus ban, an expensive court battle--paid by taxpayers--overturned the council motion, with supreme court judges ruling the city 'had overstepped its boundaries'.
Seattle council voted 5-4 against banning circus animals from their city.
'All Seattle is crying.' said Claudine Erlandson, a leader of Citizens for Cruelty-Free Entertainment (CCFE). 'That is not rain outside, it is tears.'
Lost in the emotional three-week debate on the ban was nearly $10,000 by the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) to place ads in the Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer listing the council members� phone numbers.
'The emotional peak of the evening was presented by a Humane Society videotape. With a song by Celtic New Age singer Enya providing the soundtrack, the video showed the death of a rampaging elephant in Florida. It took several officers firing at it to finally make it fall in the middle of traffic as hundreds watched,' wrote Seattle Times staff reporter John Zebrowski.
Bitter proponents of the ban were close but not close enough, losing out by a single vote.
Councilwoman Heidi Wills promised to introduce an ordinance to give Animal Control more power to monitor circuses.
Animal-rights activists, who see circuses as outright animal slavery, were not mollified.
Both CCFE and PAWS will consider trying to get the issue on the November municipal ballot. Members of both groups admit that time and money will be obstacles, as both spent thousands of dollars on ads before the council circus ban vote.
In Seattle, the issue will heat up again come September when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are poised to play seven shows at local Key Arena.
Reporters covering the Seattle circus ban uncovered incidents of misrepresentation.
'People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has made banning circus animals a top priority, puts out a pamphlet arguing for an end to dancing bears and tigers balancing on balls,' wrote Zebrowski. 'To build a case, the pamphlet says, 'In just a two-year period, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was cited for 65 violations of the (Animal Welfare Act).' A footnote cites a Washington Post story. But it's not an article, rather a letter to the editor by a member of the animal-rights group, Elephant Alliance.'
Time columnist Nicole Brodeur tried to wade through the rhetoric: 'We would all prefer that elephants and other exotics were free to roam in the wild, where some of them came from and probably belong.
'The problem is, there is no 'wild' anymore, thanks in large part to mankind. Our development drives animals out of their habitat, and then they starve to death or succumb to natural selection.
'So it is up to us to save the endangered species that are dying out, and to preserve species that may not survive.
'And unless we, the human animals, are willing to quit expanding our own habitat into theirs, that means zoos. That mans circuses. That means feeling uncomfortable whether you are standing on the other side of the fence, or sitting in the audience, gawking.
'I heard after the meeting last week that some animal-rights folks marched out of City Hall and right past a cluster of homeless people. They did nothing to show them any of the same compassion they are demanding for animals.
'That scares me more than lions or tigers or bears.'
Pithy St. John's based Toronto Globe writer Marjorie Doyle identifies a 'funny kind of martyrdom' in commenting on the ails of the Newfoundland seal fishery.
...'It was reported recently that if Paul Watson of the Sea Sheperd Conservation Societyhad to spend a day in jail, an anonymous supporter woul slip $10,000 (U.S.) into his bank account for each day inside. It's a kind of martyrdom that could grow on you. And when you're trolling the streets for converts, it's a nice prize to hold out to the idle.'
Speaking out on behalf of long-suffering Newfoundlanders and their ice fields, she wrote...'If you need to understand the rage Newfoundlanders have felt, inform yourself of the history of the seal-protest movement in Newfoundland, beginning with the Descent of Brigette Bardot onto the Ice Floes.
And of the targets chosen by animal-rights activists...'It's interesting to note the venues that have been spared the visitation of the protesters, such as the cattle farms and slaughterhouses of Canada. Animal-rights activists could also protest in the streets of Toronto when office workers are hurrying in and out of hamburger joints for quick lunches. But there are two good reasons why protesters don't turn up there: They wouldn't be tolerated, and finding yourself in the back of a police van on Bloor Street is not nearly as glamorous as being part of a photo-op on the ice. (Besides cows aren't cute, like seals).'
Perhaps Doyle hasn't heard of former Toronto Health Board Chairman and former City Councillor Peter Tabuns, now GreenpeaceCanada Executive Director and his failed boycott of Harvey's Hamburgers.
Daryl Smith, founder of Pacific Coastal Airlineswas unapolegetic about turfing Tamara Stark, who heads Greenpeace's forestry campaign, from a booked flight to a logging town in British Coloumbia.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) threatened the airline with severe punishment if it banned Greenpeace staff again.
Smith, a former logger told the National Post he regards Greenpeace as a 'quasi-terrorist organization'.
'We told them we don't want them on our airplanes,' he said.
'They made a big stink about it and went to the CTA and said we can't legally do this and yak, yak, yak. Well, we can if we have concerns for the safety (of passengers).'
Paul Watson, a founder of Greenpeace and Sea Sheperd Conservation Society is sour on humans. The same Watson, who was offered $10,000 (U.S.) a day for each day spent inside if he had to go to jail by an anonymous supporter, said in a speech at the University of Oregon law school...'We, the human species have become a viral epidemic to the earth...(an) AIDS of the earth,' reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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