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Monday, March 14, 2011

Commerford Zoo: STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!

Edited 3/18/11.  In an effort to increase traffic to this post and others that are similar to it from other bloggers or articles I find, I will occasionally add links here at the top of this post.  To read the original post, scroll down to the regular text below the links.  The more we learn, the more we can advocate.  If you feel any passion about this whatsoever, or if you know someone else who will feel passion about this at all, spread these links!  These people need to be stopped!

This is a blog of another horrified Commerford visitor who decided to write to the USDA. The original letter and response are included in this blog posting. 


Original post:

I was raised by an animal rights activist and vegan.  She's raised awareness in me about animal rights issues that I, like most other people, would likely never realize even existed had it not been for her.  You would think that that would keep me from even considering going to things like traveling petting zoos.  I know better.  But for some reason, I didn't listen to my better judgment.  My husband, kids and I went to the Commerford Traveling Petting Zoo this weekend.

They get you by circulating flyers saying, "Free Child's Admission", so of course you think, hey, lets check this out.  I knew that it would be an unnatural setting for animals, but like an idiot, I thought it couldn't possibly be that bad.  Well.... I was wrong.  What I am going to describe is the same story I saw time and time again on the internet when we got home and started googling to see if it really was as bad as what we saw.

When we first arrived, we figured there would be a charge for adults.  It was $12 each, which didn't seem too bad.  We paid, and we went in.  The first thing I noticed was that the animals looked dirty.  DH went to buy tickets for rides while I wandered with DD.  We went over to one pen with a miniature pony in it.  This pony......  It was frozen.  It didn't move.  Not.  One.  Muscle.  It just stood there staring into space, as though it were catatonic.  There was a child bothered by the pony's lack of movement and he picked up a large piece of hay.  He reached it in and began poking at the pony's face.  Still, the pony did not move, and it was at this point that I realized there was no attendant there to tell the kid to stop.  I told the kid I didn't think that was a very nice thing to do and he stopped.  I looked around more, and there were no attendants near any of the pens of animals that I could see.  There was no one ensuring the safety of the people petting the animals, or the safety of the animals themselves.

DH met back up with us with the tickets he'd purchased.  $25 for 24 tickets.  The rides cost 2 tickets, and if you wanted to ride on one of the animals?  4 tickets per person.  An adult going on an elephant with their child would spend almost $9 to do so, and would literally spent 1-2 minutes on the elephant total.

And speaking of the elephants......  They had a long line going to ride on these elephants or on a camel.  It was one line splitting into two for these animal rides.  The enclosed space for the rides was about 20 feet in diameter.  These elephants and the camel walked clockwise around this space the entire day, with groups of people piling on top of them.  They looked old and tired...sickly.  The attendants to these animals were carrying bullhooks.  If you've never seen a bullhook before, this is what they are:

 And this is how they are used:

The point of the bullhook is to inflict pain to cause the animal to become submissive.  In addition to the intimidation and fear of pain that these elephants are subjected to, and the long days of doing nothing but walking in circles with people climbing on and off them, they have nothing more than these tiny little buckets set off to the side, I guess to drink from.  I couldn't see if they even had water in them.  The thing that really caught my attention?  There was one elephant who had wandered over toward those buckets with 4 people on top of it.  The elephant wasn't drinking.  It wasn't doing anything.  It was just standing there, staring down an empty hallway.  I didn't stick around to see what happened next.  I didn't want to see what they would do to make the elephant move.

DS by that time had found his way onto some of the carnival rides.  He and DD decided to ride on one together, and as fidgety as my little guy is, as soon as he got on this big fire truck with a bell, he tried to buckle himself in with the rope that they have for a seat belt.  When the attendant came over to fasten it, he literally smacked DS's hand away and told him to "get off" (of the rope, not the ride).  I didn't see this happen as I was too busy being silly making faces at my daughter.  It was DH who saw it, and the couple standing next to him.  If you don't know me beyond the blog post, my son is 5.  The man slapped the hand of a 5 year old who was just trying to fasten his seat belt.

We left that area and went into a side room that had other animals and toys.  We were down to our last 4 tickets (THANK GOD) and we were looking for a quick way to burn through them.  This side room had more animals in it, including some ducks, some kind of mutant rat, and a kangaroo.  This kangaroo..... I was already screwed up in the head about the conditions these animals were kept in.  But this kangaroo was my breaking point.  I was horrified.  It was laying in its pen in this horrible unnatural position.  I thought it was dead.  There was a sign that said "Shhh I'm sleeping", or something to that effect, and I stood there and stared at it intently, praying its chest would move.  When I saw it did move, I snapped my mind back into reality and rushed to get the kids on their last ride so we could just leave.  (At more than $1 a ticket, for some reason we felt like we needed to just burn through them instead of give them away---BTW, by this point, we'd been there for probably a half hour.  Tops.  $49 in a carnival type of place spent in about a half hour.)

Again, we noticed that there were animals that didn't seem right psychologically.  It seemed like all of the larger animals were "tranquillized" or something.  They weren't right.  They weren't normal.  There was something seriously wrong with them.  Not just one or two of the larger animals-- all of them.

They went on this inflatable slide thing and I breathed a sigh of relief at the notion of us being able to leave.  The kids were begging to do more carnival rides, and we were as nicely as possible telling them we couldn't because we were out of tickets.  We were both trying so hard to just hold our reactions to ourselves so that we wouldn't freak out the kids.  For me, all I wanted was for them to forget the day even happened, and the best way to do that would be to NOT freak out in front of them.

As we were practically sprinting toward the door, after reasoning with the kids that we had no more tickets so we couldn't get on any more rides, a woman that DH had met several minutes earlier gave us 4 tickets right in plain view of our kids.  We both just looked at each other, knowing the kids would freak if we didn't use them, so we turned back around, went back to that side room, and let them take one more turn on whatever they wanted to do.  DD picked a huge bouncy castle, DS picked a train.  5 minutes in, and we were done again.

As we were leaving, though, one of the kids spotted the zebra.  We walked over to it, and I could hear DH say, "Is it shaking?  Or is that just its stripes?"  I couldn't really tell, actually.  It might have been shaking.  Like the pony, it was standing there, frozen completely.  It just stood there, right square in the middle of its pen, out of reach of anyone, or any of the animals kept in a pen that surrounded it.

It was everything I could do to hold back the tears.  Here we were in the middle of a torture chamber for animals, and not only had we brought our kids expecting they might enjoy it, but we actually gave these people our money.  What had we been thinking?  How the hell did I get the twisted idea in my head that that would have been a good way to spend an afternoon?  And what was it going to take to make sure our kids never, ever believe that that is the way animals should be treated, kept and handled?

We got in the car.  I turned it on and just sat there.  I started to pull out of the space but just stopped.  I felt frozen in time, just like the pony and the zebra.  I couldn't move, and when my husband started to wonder why I wasn't going anywhere, I told him I wasn't ready to drive yet.  He took over the driver's seat, and when the car was moving and we left the parking lot of the Civic Center, the tears started flowing.  I sent a text to my mom, whose job includes investigating complaints about the mishandling and abuse of exotic animals.  I asked her if it was typical for animals in traveling zoos to tranquilize their animals.  She said some do.  I told her I was pretty sure that I'd just left one that did.  Then I said I didn't want to talk about it.

My husband and I talked at length about what we had just seen.  He noticed that the equipment for the amusement rides were licensed in Massachusetts and may have been expired.  The licenses showed every year from 2007 to 2010, but nothing for 2011. 

A little while later I texted my mom again asking her how she gets the images of these things out of her head because nothing I could do would get the absolute horror that I felt over the whole thing to go away.  She called me, and we talked for awhile about it.  Half of the conversation, I was holding back tears, the other half, I just cried as I described to her what I saw.  She emailed me a list of things that she had on file for the Commerford Zoo, including USDA citations and correspondence with cities that had decided to no longer allow this Zoo in their limits.

I asked her what I could do to make peace in my heart, because I was such a wreck with guilt, shame, and sadness.  She told me to tell this story.  She told me to share what I know.  As long as I can stop one person from witnessing what I saw, that is one less person funding this.

So I share with the world what it is we experienced.  I'd like to ask that if this moves you at all, you share it as well.  The more links and hits that this blog post gets, the better the chances that it will appear in google search results along with Commerford Zoo's website.  Share this story with anyone you think might consider going.  Share this story with anyone that you know is passionate about defending animals against this kind of cruelty.  But, whatever you do, DO NOT GO TO ONE OF THESE EVENTS.  Going to these events literally funds animal cruelty.

For the sake of keeping this blog post from being painfully long, I will present the following list of citations and other problems that have been recorded against Commerford Zoo.  Most of these things listed here do have further documentation that I have (for instance, specific circumstances regarding USDA complaints written up by the USDA, newspaper articles, etc.).  If you are interested in seeing any of this, leave your email address in the comments (please note if you'd prefer your email address not be published in comments) and I'll email you whichever you are interested in seeing.


Here are the complaints, provided by PETA, and quoted directly from the PETA factsheet.  If you are interested in contacting PETA, they are at 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510 757-622-7382 • PETA.org • Circuses.com.

R.W. Commerford & Sons Traveling Petting Zoo

USDA License #16-C-0006, 48 Torrington Rd., Goshen, CT 06756

R.W. Commerford & Sons Traveling Petting Zoo has failed to meet minimal federal standards for the care of animals used in exhibition as established in the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited R.W. Commerford & Sons numerous times for failure to provide adequate veterinary care, for failure to maintain enclosures and transport trailers, for failure to have an attendant present during periods of public contact, for improper feeding, and for poor housekeeping. An elephant from R.W. Commerford & Sons has been involved in three dangerous incidents while giving rides to children and caused injuries. Contact PETA for documentation.

February 1, 2008: Commerford advertised a yak and a water buffalo for sale in Animal Finders’ Guide, a trade publication that caters to exotic animal breeders and dealers, the pet trade, and hunting ranches.
January 2, 2008: The USDA cited Commerford & Sons for failure to maintain facilities in good repair because a gate for a sheep, goat, llama, and donkey enclosure had support posts with jagged edges and a bent and broken horizontal bottom rail, which posed a risk of injury to the animals.
August 8, 2007: The USDA cited Commerford & Sons for failure to provide a developed and documented environmental enhancement plan for primates.
May 26, 2007: The USDA cited Commerford & Sons for failure to handle food in a manner that would prevent contamination.
February 21, 2007: Bob Commerford testified before a Connecticut state legislative committee in opposition to proposed bill 6599, which sought to eliminate the mistreatment of captive elephants by banning the use of bullhooks, electric prods, and chains.
September 28, 2006: The USDA cited Commerford & Sons for failure to maintain a transport trailer in a way that would protect the health and ensure the safety and comfort of the animals and for failing to store food in a manner that would protect against contamination and deterioration.
August 10, 2006: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to have an employee or attendant present during periods of public contact with the animals in the petting zoo, including an elephant named Karen.
March 5, 2006: An Asian elephant named Minnie injured two Commerford employees while giving rides at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts. As children were being loaded onto the elephant, she became agitated and suddenly swung her head toward the two employees, shifting her weight and pinning them against the loading ramp. An eyewitness reported that one of the employees had provoked the elephant by striking her in the face. One man sustained a chest injury and the other a broken arm. Both were taken by ambulance to the hospital. Two bystanders sustained bruises. Minnie has been involved in at least three previous dangerous incidents (see August 27, 1998, and August 28, 1989).
August 27, 1998: While carrying children on her back at the New York State Fair, an elephant named Minnie panicked and knocked down her trainer, then stepped on him. A 3-year-old girl was also injured after falling off the elephant and hitting her head on the ground. Both were treated at a local hospital. Minnie had been involved in at least two previous attacks (see August 28, 1989).
June 25, 1998: Commerford was cited for failure to have a program of veterinary care.
June 24, 1998: Commerford was cited for failure to maintain the elephant transport trailer. The inspector also noted that the program of veterinary care was outdated.
September 27, 1997: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to maintain enclosures, failure to have an attendant present in the petting zoo, and failure to provide veterinary care to an ill goat.
April 2, 1997: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to maintain enclosures with broken, cracked, and jagged wood and plastic, for poor housekeeping, and for inadequate pest control.
March 14, 1997: After examining several animals with the Commerford petting zoo, a veterinarian with VCA Bowie Animal Hospital in Maryland wrote, “[A sheep] was very thin with labored breathing and bilateral pneumonia. The yak [was] very thin [with] labored respiration and … pneumonia. The elephant was showing marked lameness on both rear legs. … I would be very concerned about public safety with an animal that is this sore.”
August 8, 1996: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to correct a previously identified noncompliance of not having readily identifiable employees present while animals were on public display.
March 13, 1996: Commerford was cited for improper food and bedding storage and failure to maintain enclosures.
March 10, 1996: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to provide veterinary care to four sheep with excessively long hooves, failure to have an identifiable employee present during exhibition, and for having an electrical wire inside the prairie dog enclosure.
October 6, 1995: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to provide veterinary care to two llamas with excessively long hooves and for failure to document deworming procedures.
August 28, 1995: Commerford was cited for using a 13-year-old attendant to handle the camel and failure to have an attendant present in the petting zoo during periods of public contact.
February 21, 1995: The USDA cited Commerford for inadequate drainage in the elephant enclosure, failure to maintain a camel stall, failure to clean a water receptacle in the cattle and zebu enclosure with a buildup of algae, failure to dispose of a large accumulation of soiled hay, bedding, and feces behind the elephant barn, failure to clean the transport trailer, and failure to provide veterinary care to pygmy goats with excessively large mammary glands and a prairie dog with patches of hair loss.
October 7, 1994: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to comply with feeding regulations.
March 7, 1994: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to provide veterinary care to goats and sheep with overgrown hooves and for improper feeding.
February 14, 1994: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to monitor animals during periods of public contact, for improper feeding, and for failure to have food available for a baby lamb who was too young to be isolated from his mother.
December 9, 1993: Commerford was cited by the USDA for inadequate pest control.
September 17, 1993: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to maintain the elephant’s transport trailer.
July 22, 1993: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to maintain the elephant’s transport trailer, for failure to maintain records of acquisition and disposition, for failure to keep an elephant giving rides under the control of a handler, for exhibiting a bull, a zebu, and a giraffe in a manner that could cause injury to the public and without the presence of an attendant, and for failure to have a program of veterinary care.
May 17, 1993: The USDA cited Commerford for improper food storage, for keeping piles of manure in and near the elephant yard, for failure to provide structurally sound fencing around the zebra enclosure, for failure to make necessary repairs to the elephant barn, for poor housekeeping, and for failure to maintain transport trailers.
October 14, 1992: Commerford was cited for giving animals unsanitary drinking water in rusty receptacles.
October 8, 1992: The USDA cited Commerford for improper food storage, failure to maintain prairie dog cages that contained protruding wires, and failure to provide records of acquisition and disposition.
February 20, 1992: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to provide environment enrichment to primates and failure to erect a structurally sound perimeter fence.
October 12, 1991: The USDA cited Commerford for improper food storage.
July 10, 1991: The USDA cited Commerford for improper food storage and failure to maintain enclosures.
September 18, 1990: The USDA cited Commerford for a filthy primate enclosure.
August 8, 1990: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to maintain the primate cage and failure to provide adequate space and exercise to the giraffe.
July 13, 1990: The USDA cited Commerford for failure to maintain the rabbit cage.
June 29, 1990: The USDA inspector noted that a “newborn donkey and mother should be allowed quiet quarters” at the Meadowlands Fair.
August 28, 1989: An elephant handler was attacked and critically injured by an elephant named Minnie after he struck the elephant with a bullhook while two children were riding on the elephant’s back. Minnie picked up the handler with her trunk and threw him against a trailer, breaking his shoulder and jaw, at the Champlain Valley Fair in Essex Junction, Vermont. According to a witness, “Blood was gushing everywhere. The kids were left stranded.” Commerford continued using Minnie for rides at the fair despite a public outcry that the elephant was too dangerous. Years earlier, Minnie had attacked a worker and broken his arm.


Commerford Zoo's website-- only linked to so that when Google crawls, this blog get placed in search results near it.  Feel free to NOT click it.



P.S.  Mom, thank you for calming me yesterday, and thank you for all of the information you sent me. 

48 comments:

  1. My wife and I filed a complaint with the USDA after documenting poor foot care, an oozing sore and lack of supervision at a fair last fall. Unfortunately, the USDA did not follow up until nearly four months after the complaint, when the animals had been off of the travel circuit for near;y three months. having access to vet care.

    This year I am proactively contacting towns and private facilities that had previously hired Commerford and educating them o the practices and poor performance of the organization.

    The complaint and photos of the poor health are documented here:

    http://discoveringourroute.blogspot.com/2010/11/our-complaint-to-usda-against-dm.html

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  2. I too was horrified with this "zoo" and mortified that I ever went to it at the greater Philadelphia expo center in oaks pa last weekend. Everything in this blog was exactly what I witnessed and I will also find ways to warn folks away from this abomination of cruelty to animals. Totally incensed Amy

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  3. I can so relate to this story. It is almost a mirror image of what i experienced 1 year ago today at the Topsfield Fair. I have been feverishly dedicated to spreading the word about Commerford and so many other circuses and zoos. Unfortunately, I contacted the fair recently and it seems they have invited Commerford back. I was not aware of this blog and will be posting on their Facebook page. In the meanwhile, here is a petition I started last year. Please sign and I can also post on their FB page. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/be-the-voice-for-the-animals-of-rw-commerford-and-sons/

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  4. Thanks for the write up and the comments - you all convinced me not to support Commerford.

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  5. This "thing" is nearby my home this weekend. My father owns a small business and he presented me with 2 of their free tickets for my two daughters (1 and 3) and one to my sister's stepdaughter (6). My sister and I discussed at length whether or not we would go...we have cousins who are strong supporters of the Farm Sanctuary organization and something about this just wasn't sitting well. I kept thinking we would encounter what you described, and like you, I was almost convinced to give it a try. THANK YOU for your blog post and Thank goodness I googled before we went!! I am going to post a link to your blog on my facebook page. I will also be emailing the venue where this is being held with this link and the others provided by the comments above. I will also email the city mayor's office. What gives me the shivers is the slogans on the ticket..."REAL MONKEY FARM" "100 Lb Rat" Disgusting!!!

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  6. To everyone who has shared this story, thank you so very much! Keep spreading the word!

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  7. Commerford Kids Fun Fair is horrible. I had the same experience when I took my little bother to this so called "zoo". I really wish I could do something to help this animals. The elephants were being poked with this metal forks, donkeys forced to walked, and the saddest was the pony force to take pictures with kids in this little space.

    Here is my email to contact me. I really wish I had a team/voice to help this animals.
    Paisa_juanes9@yahoo.com

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    1. just to let you know, commerfords awful petting zoo is at big e in west springfield, ma feb. 22-23. there will be a protest 1-3pm. just show up to help us if you or anyone can. signs provided. those animals are all still suffering going on 30 yrs now.

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  8. Thanks for the info. I typed in the zoo's name and safely. Will not support this or any other weekend visit to Massachusetts. Keep spreading the word!

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  9. Thank you for your post! I read this while waiting in the parking lot with a sleeping kid in the car, before going into it in Wilmington, MA this past weekend. We chose an indoor playground instead. Just awful! As a new parent, it was a good lesson to learn about doing the research before going to a 'kid-friendly' event. :/

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  10. Im so glad I read this! I was going to take my niece next weekend but I started having a bad feeling inside. I think we should make a boycott page on facebook and post the facts on this companies facebook.

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  11. They were at the Big E in Sprinfield, MA yesterday. Same horrible conditions and hey, elephants never forget cruelty and are dangerous when provoked. Little kids were balanced on the elephant which was separated from the crowd by a barrier an 8 year old kid could knock over. Not safe, and not humane.

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  12. I just got the free kids pass to give away at work, and I was thinking I would bring my own kids. But was not sure so did an internet search....well the whole packet of free tickets are now in the recycling, thanks for posting!

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  13. Thank you for posting this. We were going to take our son after getting "free" tickets at work, but now we will certainly not go. I can not believe this fair is still allowed to operate after so many complaints and obvious torture these animals are being put through.

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  14. thank you for your info. The Commerford Kids Fun Fair is in Providence RI this weekend. My daughter and I were going to go today but I first wanted to see how they treated their animals so we did some research and couldn't find anything at first but thanks to determination and gut feeling I finally found your blog. In tears I read SOME of what you wrote to my 6 yr old. Its hard for them to understand this type of thing so you kind of have to get right to the point. So needless to say WE WILL NOT BE GOING THIS WEEKEND!!! Thanks again.

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  15. Wish my husband and I had seen this posting before going to this event today. My husband's father gave us a flyer and we thought it would be a fun thing to do with our 2 year old on a cold and rainy winter afternoon. Boy, were we wrong! Everything in your post is true. It was the morose, unkempt animals staring into space like they had no soul was what made me come home and google their name to see if it was just me or if anyone had also noticed this. I can't seem to get the image of the Macaw rocking back and forth in his cage over and over and over out of my head. That is the one big signal that a parrot is in emotional distress. The stench in the place was awful and the condition of the animals was even worse. Luckily my husband and I didn't buy any tickets but 2 because the lines were too long to go on anything. It's bad enough we gave $28 to these people to get into the event but at least that was all they got from us. Never again!

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  16. I attended this Fair today.. No idea what was in store when I walked in, because I had done zero research and was going with my family and nephew as a "fun treat" for the day. The tickets were $14 per person, which I thought was a bit steep, but figured it was worth it for my nephew to have a fun day. As soon as we walked in, I knew I would not be able to handle this place. When I had looked at the tickets, I stupidly had thought "Elephant and Camel rides" meant a ride on a *fake* animal. I just didn't even understand how these elephants and camels were being taken from town to town to walk in a circle all day and have people sit on them for entertainment. When I saw the elephants at the back of the room, I froze and immediately realized the kind of situation I was in. Each pen was filthy, no attendants (aside from the elephant/camel pen, where they were being herded) as you mentioned, and the animals looked completely miserable and/or catatonic. I already submitted an Animal welfare complaint on the USDA website, and plan to contact PETA. I don't understand how this zoo is still running after so many complaints and horrible conditions. It is nauseating, disturbing, horrifying..

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  17. By the looks of it, this was a terrible day for a lot if unsuspecting people. I haven't updated this blog in 3 forevers, but I can honestly say I am so happy this post is able to make a difference. Thank you everyone for sharing your stories, and for those of you who have had the terrible experience that is visiting this disaster, my heart breaks with yours, and I hope you take the time to share your story with others. Money is the driving force of traveling zoos, and if people stop going, they'll stop traveling. If we can't stop them through legislation, we can stop them financially.

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  18. Is it possible for us to all sign something together? Strength in numbers, right? I would hope we can ban this zoo from ever coming to Providence again, or hopefully, anywhere.

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    1. Starting a petition at Change.org should have a positive effect.

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  19. To keep them out of your town, the best place to start is letter writing. I sent a letter to the venue that hosted them, and it worked. Commerford hasn't been back in years. The next step would be to write to your local government. City or county delegates might take up the task of banning them from where you live. If you want to go even bigger, you can petition your state government. I'm honestly not sure if it's state or federal government that regulates the ability of these things to exist in the first place, but whichever it is, petition them. Petition the state that licenses them to get stricter regulations. And since this thing crosses state lines, convincing the federal government to step in and put a stop to this fiasco would be the largest project to undertake.

    Unfortunately..... You won't be the first or last to make noise about this. With all of PETAs resources (money, lawyers, etc.), they have not been successful at putting a stop to this. My suggestion would be to work on your local vendor and government. This is where the first large impact can be made. Tell them your story. Tell them they fund the torture of animals by allowing this group to pass through your city. And then contact PETA. Ask them how you can help. They are how you find that strength in numbers. I know a lot of crazy and extreme stories come out in the media about them, but they do so much more that never makes it into the light, including limiting and stopping things like Commerford. They are the strength in numbers, and I am certain they will point you in the right direction.

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  20. If you would like more help on how to stop this act from coming to your town check this out http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/pdf/Steps-to-Take-When-the-Circus-Comes-to-Town-pdf.pdf but remember that the only way to truly stop this barbaric practice is to have a bullhook ban enacted in your area. Elephants in these traveling hellholes are trained and controlled through fear, if a bullhook cannot be used than the abusers cannot come to your town. And as Angela said - SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH OTHERS! Knowledge is the best weapon against animal abusers like Commerford. The more people who know and stop giving money to places like this means that their ability to make money off the backs of animals ends and maybe, just maybe, they may be retired to live out their lives in peace - or possibly the next generation may - we can all hope!

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  21. Thank you for your post. My husband and I were debating whether to take our kids to the show in Providence, RI because we had free kids tickets. I decided to research it before going to see if it was worth the money. After reading your comments we decided to skip the show. Thank you for saving us the money and the upset. I remember going to a circus as a child and was so horrified at how they treated the animals that I have refused to take my children to a circus. Glad I was able to avoid this. I am posting on face book to skip this show!

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  22. Thank you for your insight. My husband and I received free kids tickets and were debating whether to go to the show in Providence RI. After reading your post we opted out. As a child I remember going to a circus and was so horrified at how they treated the animals that I have refused to take my own children to the circus. I would have been very upset if we went to this. Thank you for saving us the time, money and bad memories. I will post on facebook not to go to the event.

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  23. Thank You so much for posting this. They are coming to our fairgrounds Feb 8th and 9th. They sent home the free ticket flyers to all the kids at my daughter's school. I decided to come on and research them. The first thing I found was their ride ticket prices and thought. Never mind thats kind of expensive. But as I googled it your post caught my eye so i came to your page next. Thankfully I did. I am going to post on FB for all the parents not to go to this thing!

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  24. Thank you so much for posting this - as a result I will not be going to this event this weekend, and have told people I know not to go. Please consider updating your page to include the name they are now using instead of "Commerford Zoo" - they are now calling this the "Kids Fun Fair." Luckily I realized this when I went to their website, so I knew to search for Commerford, but others who search for Kids Fun Fair may not find this incredibly useful and horrible information.

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  25. Thank you for sharing your experience. Two weeks ago my daughter came home from school with a free kids coupon to this fair and zoo. It is currently taking place this weekend in our area. My husband was planning on taking her today but our schedules got busy and we were postponing the visit for tomorrow. As my husband and I were talking this evening, he thought that the animals may not be treated well at these types of zoos. Your post supports our suspicions. We will be canceling our plans to attend. Thanks for saving us time & money. I will also share your post with my daughter so she understands why we are not going.

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  26. Thank you for taking action. You just stopped me from taking my son to this event today.

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  27. Peta is no help! Do you see them offering to pay a vet to look at these animals? They are useless!

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  28. Today my boyfriend and I went to the Big E in Mass. And traveled there from CT. We passed by this "zoo" and approached the elephant enclosure, this is where we noticed the elephant chained up in the tractor trailed with little space to move around. We continued into the zoo and aside from a group of goats all the animals seemed to be as previously described, zombified. Even the lemurs which are usually very active animals were all huddled in a corner not moving. As we were leaving the fair we passed by once more and saw two people riding this same ekephant , however when it didn't move the employees proceeded to jab it with electrified prods. It was disgusting. We wanted to post this to inform everyone that this mistreatment is still occuring with these people today, and also raise awareness to the USDA to actually do something about this besides these what seem to be useless citations.

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  29. November 10, 2011: Greenhouse in New York City
    canceled a scheduled appearance of an elephant with
    Commerford after being provided with information
    about this exhibitor. The venue held monthly
    fundraisers and was unaware of Commerford’s past
    when scheduling this event.

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  30. November 10, 2011: Greenhouse in New York City
    canceled a scheduled appearance of an elephant with
    Commerford after being provided with information
    about this exhibitor. The venue held monthly
    fundraisers and was unaware of Commerford’s past
    when scheduling this event.

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  31. A friend warned me about this place since my kids had free tickets from their school. I am glad I googled it. I am not taking my children to this tragedy.

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  32. This place needs to be shut down big time; the Big E needs to terminate its partnership with Commerford, and hopefully those animals should go free. I remember seeing a poor scared donkey there at the Big E, and it only calmed down when I petted the side of its neck (the way you're supposed to pet a horse or equine) as its ears moved slightly forward. A poor zebra was trapped inside a cage...

    Luckily I've found a petition right here: https://www.change.org/p/eugene-cassidy-president-and-ceo-end-the-use-of-wild-animal-acts-at-the-big-e

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  33. And that poor elephant in the picture... :'(

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  34. My Mother just called me about some coupons for an animal fair..she was excited to go with me and my children. I quickly did my research and came across your blog post. I read the entire post to my mother on the phone while I chocked by tears!! We will NOT be attending this "horror fest" next week in Wilmington, Ma and I am doing my best to share what I have learned.

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  35. huh, a zoo? really? i saw this picture with a different story claiming this was at a ringling bros. elephant training facility and another story before that claiming that this was in another country and training the young elephants to be elephant guides at an early age so as soon as they are big enough, they could be put to work. amazing how one picture means so many things.

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  36. any chance you have some of the articles you found this information on? I know its all right I am just writing a paper on all of this and need sources.
    Thanks!

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  37. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/409/636/646/demand-beulah-mae-the-traveling-circus-elephant-receive-medical-attention-and-retire-to-sanctuary/#updated

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  38. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/409/636/646/demand-beulah-mae-the-traveling-circus-elephant-receive-medical-attention-and-retire-to-sanctuary/#updated

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  39. Please sign and share for Beulah Mae, Karen, and Minnie. All apart of the Commerford's elephant rides. ❤

    http://www.thepetitionsite.com/409/636/646/demand-beulah-mae-the-traveling-circus-elephant-receive-medical-attention-and-retire-to-sanctuary/#updated

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  40. PLEASE READ::::
    I have worked for the Commerfords for a sort time.Most of you have no idea what going on , have you owned a large exoitc animal ? or dealt with anything other than your dog,cat or goldfish . Its sad and appalling that you want to contact PETA !! . I'm betting every single one of you has been to a normal zoo and have thought nothing of it . Commerfords are no different than that really. Your at the zoo looking at the polar bear and watch of it pace the floor back and forth , yet you dont call PETA or animal control becasue you think hey thats normal NO its not !!!! open your eyes that animal is board or anxiety ridden or anything else an caged animal can feel doing the same thing day after day in the same place. The Commerfords are a zoo like all the others . The animals are fed well and cleaned taken care of. they have people watching otehr the petting zoo animals you dont see then we are on the side watching . we dont have to be there ever waking min . I would hope adult or your teens can read the warning signs and control yourselves /children from getting bit or try climbing in to pet the zebra. Yes there are smaller cages than a normal zoo but that is because they have limited space to set up for people to veiw like at the Big E. Karen one of the elephants is treated great , you see her with a chain around her ankle but that is to protect YOU. If she didnt have it on she would wander around and there isnt alot that can stop an elephant . fences will do nothing if she really wants to get out . Then you see them use a bullyhook on her , its not used as a hurting tool. Its like a leash , just like you use on your own dog its there to guild her around while giving rides , she respects it and her owners .you must remember she an wild animal that has been tamed and just like any animal they can do things we dont like or is considered bad .so we have to use tools to control just like every other domesticated animal .but she a weighs around 7 tons and is 13 feet tall she not your dog , so she has to be treated differently . Yes they walk around for hours but its her job and she likes it if you can belive it . She loves People and loves to be pet and fed by hand hence why she leans over gates with her trunk to be loved on . They do give her breaks and time off . she getting more out of life than an elephant in a zoo who kept in the same cage its entire life . karen goes home to CT to a large pasture and heated barn with 2 others . Please you do not live that life and you should not judge when you do not know the facts . please have faith and an open mind not everything is as bad as it seams. There is alot that goes into running a large exotic animal zoo that most do not know about.

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  41. 2017 and reading this. Was going to take my kids to Wilmington this weekend . but i think not now... How is the "hellzoo" still going??!!

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  42. Wish I had seen this before I went today with my grandchildren. I witnessed all the same horrors. Why hasn't someone stopped this? How can we help?

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  43. Today at the Big E I couldn't wait to go see the beautiful elephants. My heart goes out to these magnificent creatures who year after year are forced to travel in tractor trailers and walk in circles for 12 hour days giving kids rides. They are on concrete and clearly not happy. Last year I tried to give an elephant circling an apple and the trainer yelled at me and pulled the elephants trunk back with his bull hook as it tried to take it from me. Seriously? ONE Apple? That elephant deserved a basket of apples for the pain and suffering it was going through. This year I was determined to give that Apple to that elephant. As the elephant approached the fence I showed it the apple and with one swift reach it grabbed the apple and ate it. The trainer never even saw. I swear there was a second of happiness for rhat elephant.
    We left and returned later just to say our good bye until next year when we knew we would see that same sad elephant once again mindlessly waking day after day, your after hour in circles. The elephant recognized me and walked right over to me. I had no apple this time and sadly the trainer bullhooked the elephant back. I was so sad. It remembered me. My heart breaks for these beautiful elephants. This company brags about having the elephants for 43 years. They claim they love them. If they truly LOVE these elephants they will retire them to live the rest of their lives out in peace.

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  44. Great news! The three elephant zoo slaves became plaintiffs represented in court by the NonHuman Rights Project lawyers in the state of Connecticut as of November 2017.

    The team seeks habeas corpus and legal personhood for Beulah, Karen and Minnie. If granted, they can retire to a reputable sanctuary as they will no longer be regarded by the law as "things" to be owned and abused.

    Visit the NhRP website for details and updates on this litigation case:

    https://www.nonhumanrights.org/clients-beulah-karen-minnie/

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  45. Thank you so much for your blog. You (and other online reviews) stopped me from taking my family to this event at Times Union Center in Albany, NY. It is disappointing that USDA does not do anything to help the abused animals. Please start a petition at Change.org. If we obtain enough signatures, we may end up with a positive outcome.

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  46. I really surprised and sorrowful to read this post. I can't think it can happen, But it is happening till now. Really sorrowful!

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