Animal Activists Plan Circus Protest in Danbury

DANBURY, CT — The circus has come to town, but not everyone is happy about it.

The Garden Bros. Circus returns to Danbury this weekend, with shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Danbury Arena. Jill Alibrandi, from Redding, will be leading a protest outside of the Arena on Saturday and Sunday. She believes the circus abuses its animals.

“The animals are kept in trailers right next to the train station, so the loud noise comes through with the trains every 15 minutes,” Alibrandi told Patch. “They are repeatedly hit with bullhooks, electric shock. They are underfed, and one of the elephants drags a foot, and she has open wounds under her eye.”

There was more than a just a note of oh, not this again! resignation in the voice of Jim Davis, executive director of Stellar Entertainment in Sarasota, Florida, which produces the Garden Brothers Circus, when asked by phone about the allegations:

“We don’t use bull hooks, the animals are born in captivity,” Davis said. “There is no electroshock therapy. These animals are seen every month, it’s required by federal law. They are checked by veterinarians who are on the lookout for any type of issues. These animals are treated with the utmost of care. The people who handle the animals have raised them since they were born, they train them the same way we train our dogs, with treats. You’re not going to make a 4,000 pound animal do something by violence.”

As far as circus protests go, this is not Alibrandi’s first rodeo. She has a master’s degree in environmental education, and has been a grass-roots environmental and animal rights activist for about 20 years, and served on the Inlands Wetland Commission in Wilton for seven years. She currently organizes and/or attends six to twelve circus protests annually. When not on the front lines, she "provides information" to all the major animal rights and animal welfare organizations, including Wildlife SOS, Animal Defenders International and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

That last group sits particularly poorly with Davis.

"PETA kills more animals than any organization in the nation," he said. "Over 90 percent of the animals they bring in, they kill."

The circus producer doesn’t quite get the activism.

"There are people out there who feel the same way as PETA, and there are people who want to see the animals. It’s an old American tradition, and we’re trying to keep it alive. As long as we are following the laws, and the government allows it, we are going to continue to do it."

Yeah, about that... Alibrandi says she is in the early stages of working with the Danbury City Council to legislate a city-wide ban on circuses, such as the ones already in place in Stamford and Bridgeport. Her long-term goal is a statewide ban, she says, either legislated, or de facto.

"They can’t go to Stamford, they can’t go to Bridgeport, where there are venues that can hold them," she described her strategy to run rings around the ringmasters. "And then we will work on Danbury, and the last to go will be Hartford, and then they’re not going to want to come into this state!"

As of Friday afternoon, Alibrandi was not certain how big the “peaceful, polite” demonstrations she was planning would be, estimating anywhere from five to forty protesters. She is hoping more will join her on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from noon to 5 p.m. outside the Danbury Arena, at 1 Independence Way. Davis is hoping to fill the inside of the arena with families for the 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. shows both days. Tickets are available here.