<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color:#ffff99;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/7c26caf3-db22-4123-b615-3a3b6057e7d0/FB5385FD-3A9D-4A55-8826-A5928A5E8050/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIvnEu-D_CqeGOboBYNAvQvp8EvQD96MTJS80" href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIvnEu-D_CqeGOboBYNAvQvp8EvQD96MTJS80" style="font-size: 11px;">www.google.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIvnEu-D_CqeGOboBYNAvQvp8EvQD96MTJS80"><DIV id="hn-headline">Circus CEO says elephants are struck, but not hurt</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIvnEu-D_CqeGOboBYNAvQvp8EvQD96MTJS80"><P>WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the company that owns the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus acknowledged in federal court Tuesday that all his elephant handlers strike the animals with metal-tipped prods, but he said it's necessary to keep the huge animals under control and doesn't harm them.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIvnEu-D_CqeGOboBYNAvQvp8EvQD96MTJS80"><P>But under cross examination, he said the company has no policy to make sure he's personally aware of abuse investigations.</P><P>He said he's seen handlers hit elephants under the chin, behind the ears or on the legs with a bull hook — which resembles a thick fireplace poker with a curved metal hook — describing it as a standard practice to "correct" or "guide" the animals. "I don't view what I've seen as abuse," he said.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIvnEu-D_CqeGOboBYNAvQvp8EvQD96MTJS80">animal rights groups,</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIvnEu-D_CqeGOboBYNAvQvp8EvQD96MTJS80">Animal Welfare Institute,</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIvnEu-D_CqeGOboBYNAvQvp8EvQD96MTJS80">American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIvnEu-D_CqeGOboBYNAvQvp8EvQD96MTJS80">Fund for Animals and the Animal Protection Institute,</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIvnEu-D_CqeGOboBYNAvQvp8EvQD96MTJS80">are suing to stop Ringling Bros. from using elephants in their shows.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/FB5385FD-3A9D-4A55-8826-A5928A5E8050/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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