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Community Corner

Circus Lobby Targets Milford and Durham

          Local opposition to two proposed elephant acts in Connecticut has caused the Circus Fans Association Of America (CFA), a national lobby group for circuses with animal acts, to post a call for action in Durham and Milford to its full membership. Reacting to public pressure, the town of Milford is considering an ordinance banning circuses with animal acts. And there is ever-growing opposition to the proposed Elephant Encounters act at the Durham Fair with a petition of almost 2500 names and counting ready to present to the Fair’s board this Wednesday calling for the cancellation of the elephant act.

            Consequently, Gary Payne, Chairman of the CFA’s “Animal Welfare Committee” and a frequent commenter on the Durham and Milford Patches championing exotic animal acts, has sent the lists of the names and emails of the entire Durham Fair Executive Board and the entire Milford Board of Alderman to the full CFA national membership calling for each of them to contact each board member and urge them not to bow to public pressure. Payne even provides “talking points” in case some members don’t fully understand what is at stake. This is nothing new for them; they have used similar tactics in dozens of communities around the U.S. and Canada. Check out the CFA website (www.circusfans.org) and scroll down to “Urgent Action Needed In Connecticut” for details of its organized strategy to resist opposition to exotic animal acts in our state.

            We need to understand that these CFA members are not members of our local communities just promoting good wholesome education and family fun for their neighbors; they are a national lobby for the circus community, and they dare not let too many of these public oppositions succeed. Too many holes in the dike and the whole exploitation-of-exotic-animals-for-entertainment industry could collapse.

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 What can you do? For the Durham Fair, sign the petition if you haven’t already done so! Go to http://www.change.org/petitions/the-durham-fair-association-cancel-the-elephant-encounter-show, and sign the petition. Wouldn’t it be nice if Rachael Mann, who started this petition, could show up at the Board meeting Wednesday with 3500 signatures and counting?

In Milford?  Citizens, let your Aldermen know you want that ordinance passed. If you need to, you can even get their emails off the CFA website. And please sign the Durham Fair petition shown above. 

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In a way it’s nice to know we’ve got them worried.

Terry and Don Bourret, Durham

 

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