Thursday, September 11, 2014

From Ray Gronso


Hope Elephants co-founder dead after falling, being step...
HOPE, Maine — The man who brought two retired circus elephants to Maine to care for them was killed in their pen Tuesday morning when he fell and was crushed by...
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Posted by Buckles at 9/11/2014 04:47:00 AM

2 comments:

jerry digney said...

very unfortunate--I'm sure the incident was purely accidental they were probably on Carson & Barnes when I was there;

11 September, 2014 15:31
Chic Silber said...


From the Associated Press Tuesday

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Police say the founder of Hope Elephants
a Maine facility that cares for retired circus elephants was killed when one of the animals stepped on him.

Knox County Sheriff's Office deputies say they found 56 year old James Laurita unresponsive
in the barn on Tuesday morning. Police say they believe Laurita fell before one of his two elephants stepped on his chest.

Laurita founded the facility in Hope, Maine, with his brother, Tom, in 2011. The two Asian elephants, Rosie and Opal, arrived in 2012.

He had worked with Opal and Rosie decades ago when he was an elephant handler for the traveling Carson & Barnes Circus.

11 September, 2014 20:57

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