In January, the Board decided not to allow Royal Hanneford Circus to return this year because of its 20-plus violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which included failing to provide elephants suffering from tuberculosis with veterinary care, failure to provide animals with a minimal amount of cage space and failure to provide documents.

Royal Hanneford also employed infamous animal abuser Tim Frisco, who was caught on tape beating elephants with metal hooks and advising his staff to “hurt ‘em, make ‘em scream.”

In spite of this obvious abuse, Caravan Youth Center, the event’s host, is still pushing to bring the Royal Hanneford Circus back to MSU.

Ed Purchis, Caravan Youth Center circus committee secretary-treasurer, told The State News he did not believe Students Promoting Animal Rights, or SPAR’s, allegations of animal abuse. This statement falls somewhere between confusion and outright fabrication.

When SPAR met with the Caravan Youth Center committee and Breslin Center staff in February 2008, we detailed the above list of USDA violations. Soon after, we discovered Tim Frisco’s employment with Royal Hanneford Cicus, which had been well-known to anti-circus advocates and the circus itself for years. For Purchis to publicly deny the history of abuse he either does not care about the video footage and a stack of USDA documents, or he simply wasn’t paying attention at the meeting.

Some have contested that many humans in the world aren’t treated as well as these animals. I contend this is simply false. These animals do not choose their professions, nor their hours. They are trucked all over the country’s many climate zones in cages with virtually no temperature control and are coerced to perform under threat of punishment. They receive no pay and spend much of their lives chained up. To say they are treated better than some humans is to suggest that some humans would be better off in a state of lifelong slavery, and therefore, it’s somehow OK to treat the animals similarly.

Purchis also has lamented the thousands of dollars in charity lost because the circus did not attend. This is another statement by Purchis which is either seriously ill-informed or intentionally fabricated. In our February 2008 meeting, SPAR presented a list of all-human circuses willing to perform on the same day and for charity.

Last fall, when the board decided not to allow Royal Hanneford Circus to renew their contract, they offered to re-sign them if they agreed not to use animals. Following that announcement, SPAR contacted Purchis with numerous options for a charity fund-raiser, which SPAR would help organize and run. In all instances, Purchis and Caravan Youth Center declined (Royal Hanneford Circus was open to an all-human circus).

Purchis also has made the point that animal rights organizations want to shut down all animal acts on campus. This is true, but still irrelevant. Although we don’t agree with using animals, this issue is about animal abuse according to the minimal standards put forth by the law. To deny Royal Hanneford Circus’ crimes and then criticize our group is merely a diversionary tactic.

The facts simply don’t square up with Purchis’ assessment. He is pushing for an event with a history of animal abuse when there are clearly alternatives available.

Those of us who believe we should have charities without systematic animal abuse should exercise our right to speak up. We must tell the board animal cruelty is indefensible and we don’t want to be a part of it.

You can find trustee contact information, as well as the full list of violations, at www.sparmsu.org. Let’s show these institutions that we, the people, decide policy, not Ed Purchis.

Drew Robert Winter is a State News guest columnist, English and journalism senior and president of Students Promoting Animal Rights. Reach him at winterdr@msu.edu.