Even though female elephants stay with their mothers for life and males until their early teens, the first step in training elephants to perform tricks is to break the bond between babies and their mothers. When they are 18-24 months old, calves are roped by all four legs & tied by the neck to an "anchor elephant" who leads them away from their mothers. The frantic moms are restrained by having all four legs chained to the wall while the babies try to run away and fight having the ropes put on. 

The babies take one last look at their mothers and are dragged away. Their spirits are broken by being tied up to a bar 23 hours a day for up to 6 months standing on a concrete floor. Their cries can be heard outside the barn. After they totally break down, training begins in earnest using tools of torture, such as a bullhook. Regardless of how exhausted they are, the show goes on. They live the majority of their lives in chains.

Brain Franzen leases his animals to the Loomis Circus, as well as others. One of the elephants he owns is named Okha, now approximately 53 years old. 

We do not want Sarasota to be known for animal cruelty. We have shark draggers, brutal filming of a mother racoon that was stabbed repeatedly with a pitchfork then set on fire as her perpetrators laughed. 

These animals pose dangers to the public. In more than 35 incidents since 2000, elephants have bolted from circuses, run amok through the streets, crashed into buildings, attacked members of the public, and killed and injured handlers. Brian Franzen's own father Wayne was killed in 1997 by one of his performing tigers as 2oo school-aged children watched. 

This is not who we are. We are better than this. Why are we allowing travelling animal shows to do their business in Sarasota? I agree with The Ringling Circus when they say "people are no longer interested in seeing animals perform. That is the past. We have a blank piece of paper on which to reimagine."

Let's re-imagine who we can be. Email the Sarasota County Commissioners to pass an ordinance banning travelling exotic animal acts in Sarasota at commissioners@scgov.net. Your voice for these creatures will not be heard unless you email the commissioners. You can also ask their administrative assistant to convey a message to them by calling 941-861-5912.