On Monday, March 23, the Richmond (VA) City Council will be discussing and accepting public statements regarding Ordinance No. 2014-199. The proposed ordinance would ban the use of the elephant guide (also called a bull hook/ankus), essentially prohibiting circuses and other exhibitors with elephants from visiting the city of Richmond.  If this ordinance is passed, it would prevent the use of a widely accepted elephant management tool which is absolutely necessary to safely display elephants in a public setting. 

Monday’s meeting will be for discussion and amendments only; the Council will not vote on the ordinance until a later date.  We have learned that the City Council may be amending the ordinance to change the effective date of the proposed ban to 2018, in response to the recent Ringling Bros. elephant announcement.  Feld Entertainment did not request the change in the effective date; in fact, Feld Entertainment representatives will be at the City Council meeting on Monday to oppose any further action on this measure. 

Anyone who is opposed to the proposed ban should contact each member of the Richmond City Council (even if you have done so previously) with a short e-mail, phone call, or letter to express your opposition to an elephant ban.  Please feel free to forward this information to your contacts, especially anyone who lives in Richmond or who has been to circus performances in the city.  We wanted to share this information and suggest your participation not on behalf of Ringling Bros., but in the interest of all responsible elephant exhibitors who want to bring elephants to the city of Richmond.  Thank you.

Contact Information

Email addresses for entire City Council and Mayor (to copy and paste into the “To” field in your email):

Charles.Samuels@Richmondgov.com; Ellen.Robertson@Richmondgov.com; jonathan.baliles@richmondgov.com; Chris.Hilbert@Richmondgov.com; Kathy.Graziano@RichmondGov.com; parker.agelasto@richmondgov.com; Cynthia.Newbille@Richmondgov.com; Reva.Trammell@Richmondgov.com; michelle.mosby@richmondgov.com; askthemayor@richmondgov.com

Richmond City Council Mailing Address:

900 E. Broad Street, Suite 305                                                     City Council Main Phone: (804) 646-2778

Richmond, VA  23219                                                                      City Council Fax: (804) 646-5468

Richmond City Council Roster (9 total, plus Mayor):

Michelle R. Mosby, City Council President                            Office: (804)646-5497

Christopher A. Hilbert, City Council Vice President            Office: (804)646-6055

Charles Samuels, Councilman                                                     Office: (804)646-6532
Ellen F. Robertson, Councilman                                                 Office: (804)646-7964

Jonathan T. Baliles, Councilman                                                 Office: (804)646-5349

Kathy C. Graziano, Councilwoman                                            Office: (804)320-2454

Parker C. Agelasto, Councilman                                                 Office: (804)646-6050

Cynthia I. Newbille, Councilwoman                                          Office: (804)646-3012

Reva M. Trammell, Councilwoman                                           Office: (804)646-6591

Also:

Dwight C. Jones, Mayor                                                                Office: (804)646-7970

City of Richmond                                                                              Fax: (804)646-7987

(Mailing address for Mayor: 900 E. Broad St., Suite 201, Richmond, VA  23219)

City Council Website: http://www.richmondgov.com/CityCouncil/contacts.aspx

Sample Talking Points

The following are suggestions for your correspondence, but please use your own words, and you do not need to include every bullet point.  Please keep all correspondence respectful.

·         Tell the City Council members that you are OPPOSED to any measure that would prevent circuses and other travelling exhibitors with elephants from visiting Richmond.

·         All circuses are required to have a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) exhibitor’s license.  USDA conducts regular unannounced inspections of all performing animals and their stable areas, and their inspection reports are a matter of public record.

·         Circuses and other animal exhibitors are also subject to state and local animal cruelty laws and permit requirements in the local cities they visit and the commonwealth of Virginia.  Such regulations provide protection to all performing animals and allow for the prosecution of those who neglect or mistreat the animals in their care.

·         Millions of American families support and enjoy traditional circuses with elephants and other exotic animals, including many thousands who attend shows in Richmond.  It is wrong to deprive them of the right to choose to do so.

·         Circuses and other traveling exhibitors with performing animals contribute to the local economies of the communities they perform in and support hundreds of jobs for local arena and other workers.

·         If any animal is being mistreated in any environment, then the right answer is to enforce existing laws and regulations to punish bad actors, as opposed to punishing an entire industry and the public who enjoy circuses.

·         Circus elephants and other performing animals are well cared for and it only makes sense that circuses would take good care of them.  In fact, performing circus animals generally are healthier and live longer than their counterparts in zoos.

·         Proponents of performing animal bans mischaracterize or misunderstand the facts about the training and handling of circus animals. Most of the organizations that advocate such bans do so as part of a larger, animal rights agenda which opposes all or most human interaction with animals.

Thank you!