TO: Care DATE: -l-l6-99 Complaint 99-O75 . Narrative On January 7 and 8, 1999, I inspected the elephant section ofthe Ringling Brosand Barnum Bailey Circus, Blue Unit. The circus was located in Sunrise, Florida, at the National Car Rental Center. The inspection was in response to complaints made by the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). Mr. Samuel Santiago; Senior Investigator; USDA-API-IIS-IES and Iworked together both days. On the aiiemoon of January 7, 1999, Mr. Santiago and I arrived at the circus, and Mr. Jeffrey Steele, General Mgr.,Blue Unit gave us permission to proceed. However, early in the inspection, aiier examining the iirst elephant, Mr. Steele indicated that he intended to cooperate but he wanted us to wait until corporate representatives could accompany us. Mr. Steele said that this would be done quickly, -and the representatives, including the attending veterinarian, could be on site by the next morning. Since a delay of inspection is not considered acceptable by USDA, Mr. Santiago contacted TES headquarters, and it was confirmed that such a delay is not compliant.We were instructed' to return, and if denied access at that time, to write a violation. I-Iowever, soon after, we were told - by USDA, to proceed with the inspection, that USDA and Ringling had conferenced, and we were free to return and proceed. We would still be joined by corporate representatives the following day. Joan Galvin, VP Government Relations, came to work with us on l~7-99, when we returned. On l-8-99, we were joined by the Circus's attending veterinarian, WA. Lindsay, D.V.M., and other representating the Circus. The officials included Julie Strauss; VP and Corporate Council, and Jeannie Perron, JD, DVM. - On l-7~99 and l-8-99, we worked with Richard Froemming, VP Circus Touring Units, and the follownlig and personnel traveling with the Circus: Jeffrey Steele, General Mgr., Blue 1 5 The elephants (all Asian females except Benjamin, an Asian rna1e)were identiied as: Meena, Lecharnee, Camala, Zeena, Lutzi, Susan, Rebecca, Jewel, Sophie, Karen, Mysore, Minnie, Nicole, and the youngsters Benjamin and Shirley. if Meena was the first elephant I examined her. She urinated when the commands began. On the right side of her head, about midway between the attachment ofthe ear, and the bony ridge above the eye, was a round, symmetrical hole of about l/8 in 1 diameter, penetratingithel skin. The lesion was compatiblein ,appearance with, a freshpuncture wound. I touched the lesion and got a small amount of bl9_od on my finger. There were smears beside the lesion that appeared to be dried blood. I asked_ /'gwhat he thought this was from. He told me a bullhook, another elephant, or anything. difhft know. The next day I tried to show it to Dr. Lindsay. [was unable to locate it again, despite searching the same area. Dr. Lindsay and I examined Nicole. I saw nothing except an approirirnately pecan sized lump ot' what appeared to be healed scar tissue at the upper attachment of her right ear. I examined Susan, with Dr. Lindsay. She had a variety of apparently recent, healing, scratches and scrapes on her head and iight side(see photos). Dr. Lindsay said he saw Susan on December 29 and 30, 1998 and they were not there. thought they might be 50111 the transport vehicle. Benja1nin,approxi1'nately 3 years old and Shirley, the younger of the two)were loose in a "large" pen when Mr. Santiago and I arrived. The pen was bedded with wood shavings, and there were cone_s in the pen as toys. I saw the two youngsters playing together, and with_ their toys. The scratches seen on Benjamin seemed old, and were explained as probably being from Shirley, before her tusks were removed. Otherwise, I did not see anything unusual about Benjamin. At night, these elephants were chained, in their pen. The Blue Unit had a turn-out pen for the elephants, although it was not set up. According to Mr. Steele, the elephants are either turned out in the pen at their stops, or walked, for excercise off- chains. The elephants at this location, were chained on the diagonal, with .padded chains, and the ones that we examined were able to lie down and get up while chained. flatware 0 Kristina Cox, USDA-API-HS-AC . Eastern Region Ft. Lauderdale, FL. i _aqvsanmaarif