Saturday, March 17, 2007

From Ken Kawata

Subject: House Bill 6599
Date: 17 March 2007
From: Ken Kawata, 23 Arielle Lane, Staten Island, NY 10314
After reading Mr. Orr's account in the "Buckels blog" I am compelled to comment on House Bill 6599. I have worked in six zoos in the United States from 1969 through 2005. Specifically, for 15 years I supervised elephant care personnel as an administrator in three zoos, including 12 years of intense, often hands-on elephant management programs. I have written about elephants and their management, and believe I am qualified to make a statement on this issue. Unbeknownst to the general public, the subject of elephant management in zoos and circuses is vast and multi-layered, but let me pick just one subject, the so-called bullhook.
A bullhook is an extension of the hand of the elephant keeper; it is a tool and not, repeat, NOT a weapon as the uninformed public might assume. Once an elephant, be it a two-year old female or a 30-year old male, either African or Asian, decides to attack a human there is no way that a metal stick, no matter how long or how sharp-ended, can protect him. It is a tool to handle and communicate with an elephant. It helps a keeper to reach a part of an elephant's body such as the back or the base of an ear, to give directions and commands. Anyone with an open mind will know this, after watching a skilled elephant keeper work on his charge.
There are many other subjects concerning elephant management. But instead of getting into others let me make an observation.
Too often, the public debates about elephants are dominated by a vocal and well-organized minority who puts emotion, but not knowledge and experience, in the driver's seat. As their voice floods the scene and drowns those who are familiar with the subject, reason and logic become the victim. There must be a balance between emotion and intellect in order to maintain a reasonable debate in our society and yet, in the end the former tends to win. Legislators, who have the authority to determine the course of our society, should listen to those who have the knowledge, not those who make animal husbandry topic into an inflammatory issue in the political arena. Failure to do so could help to pave the road to jeopardize circuses, a unique American heritage. I sincerely hope that reason be given the chance in the process, a preferred course of action in our democratic society.
Respectfully submitted, Ken Kawata

Posted by Buckles at 3/17/2007 06:42:00 PM

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mr Kawata. Beautifully written. Perhaps if people like you and many others would have stepped forward years ago all this awful animal activeist[?] nonsense would not have gotten this far. How were we to know the public and politisions would believe all the lies being told about animal training. Some people will do anything to get their name in the papers. The animals are the ones who suffer from all the lies. I have yet in all my 65 years to meet a REAL circus or zoo trainer who did not love their animals. Allways giving the best of care.

17 March, 2007 19:11
Anonymous said...

From Eric:

It is an unfortunate fact of life that the legislators who have the authority to determine the course of our society are more inclined to listen to people who send them campaign contributions rather than people who have knowledge and common sense. The PETA crowd knows this only too well, and I would guess that much of they money they rake in from the uninformed is used to help elect those people who believe in the same things they do. There is nothing wrong with writing to your elected officials to make your "presence" known. However, if you REALLY expect to do some good, you will have to make your "presents" known. (No presents of less than $250 will make much of an impression.)

'Nuff said!

17 March, 2007 21:10
Anonymous said...

WRONG - WRONG - WRONG - WRONG
I hope BLOGGER ERIC now takes the time to write, e-mail, or make those telephone calls Mon. Tues. and Wed...We can make a difference..This type of thinking will get us no where..Friend Eric do like some of us are doing and just plain be active...We can not let CT. fall..Don't be one of those ship jumpers..None of us own elephants but we are in there to the end..We have a track record when it comes to carrying water for the elephants..Help us out and do the right thing.

18 March, 2007 08:30
Anonymous said...

A great letter from Ken. As to Rebecca's comment about if people would have stepped forward years ago maybe we wouldn't be in this mess: I was working with marine mammals 30 plus years ago, I think the early target of animal rights activitists. We wrote letters and did our song and dance. After the rights people won a few and lost a few they moved on to elephants and great apes. (Dog, cat, and camel guys don't relax -- you're probably next.) I'm sure there are a few true believers who think think animal training is amoral and pooping on the rug's OK. The big problem for we trainers is that animals rights is big business. They have to keep coming out with "new products" a.k.a. different types of trained animals. We in turn have to market well trained and cared for animals that can benefit the animals and society. Hopefully, if we do our job well, "the truth will set us free."

18 March, 2007 09:14
Anonymous said...

I remember when Mrs. Allen (sorry, I can't remember her first name)came to Milwaukee to appear in the Great Circus Parade with her seals riding in one of our wagons. Some AR's person called Washington, DC and complained. A Senator on the Agricultural committee bowing to pressure, dispached an inspector to our Milwaukee showgrounds. He compiled a list of 12 or 13 exceptions before the seals would be allowed to appear in the parade. Some of the problems - only one seal; sand and repaint the floor of the cage wagon; have a water truck follow the wagon in case the water level went down during the parade; have a cooler box in the wagon with fish and a handler to feed the seal; rig up a hose on top of the wagon, so the seal would receive a water spray during the parade and on and on. We did all the things the Agricultural inspector requested and passed. The seal was going to ride in the parade. I am sure Harold Burdick and Tim Perkins remember all the hopops we had to got through.

The afternoon before the parade a young man from the U. S. Commerce Dept. arrived on the lot in suit and tie, having been sent at the request of a Rhode Island legislator (probably presssure from PETA) and told Mrs. Allen that the seal could not ride in the parade. She and CWM protested saying that the Agricultural Dept. had passed on the seal participating but he said he had the last word. He said he would be back the next day and if one of her seals was loaded into a CWM wagon, her license to own and perform with sea lions would be revoked.

Folks, this is your government at work. Bowing under the pressure of AR people without regard to anything. Yes, the fellow from Agriculture showed up before the parade and sat in a chair being sure all of Mrs. Allen's sea lions were in their trailer. She offered him lunch but he refused saying that he was not allowed to accept a free lunch. I wonder where this fellow is today.

I am sure Paul Ingrassia remembers this incident as well as many others.

One year an local inspector came onto the showgrounds just off a cattle farm inspection told Kay Rosaire that her cats needed running water in her cages in the menagerie on the parade showgrounds. She said he cats drank two or three times a day. The inspector said it was in the Milwaukee County rule book. The book was referring to cows, not wild animals. Kay asked him if he had ever been to Africa and he said "no", at which point she asked if the lions had running water in the wild. He didn't know what to say. Don't mess with Kay.

Those were wonderful days in Milwaukee!!!!

18 March, 2007 11:57
Anonymous said...

Jim A. I had never heard of animal activist until the elephant lies started. That was over ten years ago. I knew they did not know a thing about elephants, but wanted to part JC and a few of his millions. I know JC. The activist should have tried parting the RED SEA. That would have been easier for them. Especially while JC was walking on it. carol buckley found this out the hard way.

18 March, 2007 12:25
Anonymous said...

From Eric:

Those of us who live in California tend to be a little more cynical regarding our elected officials and Federally-appointed judges. All to often, we’ve seen the results of some emotionally-charged issue be overwhelmingly rejected by the voters in an election (i.e. giving welfare benefits to illegal aliens, giving hiring preferences to certain racial minorities, etc.) and then have the election results overturned or postponed indefinitely by a some high-ranking official or Federal judge. PETA and other organizations of their ilk are, in fact a Political Action Committees (PACs), which exist primarily to raise money for political purposes. (To think otherwise is naïve.) If you expect to successfully counter their efforts in the long run, you’re eventually going to have to fight them using their own weapons: money and politically influence, not to mention the support of powerful friends in the media who think as they do and who can advance their agenda under the guise of reporting the news. For starters, the public needs to be informed as to which political candidates PETA supports so that we can at least vote for their opponents. An effort should also be made to get the word out to those people in the media who have no use for PETA and its agenda. (Whatever you may think about someone like Rush Limbaugh, he certainly has done his share to ridicule and expose the machinations of the “animal rights” crowd to millions of listeners. Has anyone thought to contact him?)

18 March, 2007 13:52
Anonymous said...

Some A(^#HO&^ in St Louis put an ad in the ST Louis "LOST and FOUND" section of the newspaper! Of all places to put an animal activist notice!!!!!!! Lost elephant "CLARA". This really turned my stomach. I have been e-mailing this stupid person as I answered the ad. I advised them to search the trash dumpsters as thats where they dump the bodies of those they kill. Putting that ad in the "Lost and Found Pet section is about as low as they can go. People searching for their lost pets have to put up with this cruel and inhumane idea. The whole thing is to draw attention to carol buckleys place in Tenn. This shows just how much they really care for elephants. I was shocked at the ad and it takes a lot to shock me.

19 March, 2007 09:59
Anonymous said...

Eric, We all know no animal trainer/owner/manager has any money. What we made was all put back into careing for the animals. They had to eat and be taken care of weither we worked or not. If they were not healthy we did not get work. I have never known that to happen. Animals always came first. The general public does not understand that we do not work all year round and have many days between dates. Very few in the winter time.

19 March, 2007 19:21

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