Keep Tiger Display out of Conneaut Lake Park

[catmandu]

I discovered tonight that PETA has posted an action alert about a tiger display being planned for Conneaut Lake Park, PA. This alert is of particular interest to me because the park is located only twenty miles or so from where I live - though I hadn't been aware of the park's plans, having missed the article posted about it in the local paper.

I'd like to see this alert generate as much response as possible. Conneaut Lake Park has an historical and sentimental importance for the folks living around here, as well as being a source of economic revenue. However - the park is now over 100 years old, its heyday has long since passed, and it's been in financial straits for many years. A lot of people in the area believe the park should simply accept the inevitable and close down - others are constantly pushing forward new plans to revitalize it. The proposed tiger display is yet another attempt to bolster up flagging attendance at an amusement park that's been dying a slow death now for a very long time.

This is a busy time of year, I know; there is no specific "due date" for letters and they could safely wait till after the New Year. I'm concerned however that by that time the action alert will have been supplanted by so many others that it will not receive the attention it deserves. So please - do write.

View action alert: http://www.peta.org/alert/Automation/AlertItem.asp?id=1200

Note: The CEO's last name has been misspelled. For "Koltteenbaugh" please write "Kaltenbaugh." (I've emailed PETA about the error.)

You might also send a copy of the letter to the Conneaut Lake Institute's Board of Directors. The Institute is involved in promoting events around the Conneaut Lake Area, and is heavily involved both with Park promotion and with raising public funds for it. The president of the board of directors is Mrs. Ellen Scholl Klinginsmith. Write her at:

Conneaut Lake Institute, Inc.
P.O. Box 111
Conneaut Lake, PA 16316

Aside from discussing the negative aspects of using wild animals for entertainment purposes, you might also like to mention that, while you can appreciate the desire of many community members to keep this park viable, using tigers as a prop to do so is not the right way to go about it!

Thanks for your time!

[catmandu]

A quick update:

- PETA never responded directly to my email; they did however correct the spelling of Don Kaltenbaugh's name.

- I got a phone call (on my answering machine) from Conn. Lake Park's president of Board of Directors in response to the letter I'd written; he said he'd make sure my concerns were voiced at the next board meeting, to take place shortly after the first of the year.

- in the paper today, the same president of the Board of Directors is quoted as saying that the board is "aware of PETA's concerns," but that "as it stands right now" they plan on going ahead with the proposed tiger show.

- PETA's action alert (see link in previous post) now includes an email address for posting comments. If anyone would like to do so before the next board meeting, that would great.

- there's a certain amount of community buzz going on here because of PETA's involvement. More people seem against having a tiger show than for it at this point.

Of course, I doubt that the tigers themselves (there are, apparently, five of them; the local humane society has checked to make sure that they're healthy and in "acceptable" living quarters) will directly benefit, whatever else ends up happening. Still, it would be a great demonstration of how far animal rights activism has come if PETA and other like-minded folks (whether they support PETA itself or not) could exert enough influence to keep an animal act from taking up permanent residence in a fairly conservative small town like mine. Here's hoping.

On another front - boy aren't the hunters around here pissed right now! Seems a great many of them didn't get to "bag a deer" this season. The deer herds are now being described as "decimated" (that seems to be a favorite word for describing the situation). And here I was thinking that hunters were all in favor of bringing deer populations under control. I'll never again believe that line - from the comments I've heard (and I've heard plenty), they're royally pissed simply because they didn't have enough opportunity to hunt down and slaughter animals. That's all it came down to.

[That Alpaca Guy]

On another front - boy aren't the hunters around here pissed right now! Seems a great many of them didn't get to "bag a deer" this season. The deer herds are now being described as "decimated" (that seems to be a favorite word for describing the situation). And here I was thinking that hunters were all in favor of bringing deer populations under control. I'll never again believe that line - from the comments I've heard (and I've heard plenty), they're royally pissed simply because they didn't have enough opportunity to hunt down and slaughter animals. That's all it came down to.

I agree. I am honestly surprised that so many people believe what hunting organizations tell them.

[catmandu]

Another quick update:

- PETA has posted an update concerning the Conneaut Lake Park tigers in their action alerts. The link is the same as given above; basically it repeats what I've already said here: that the latest news from the Park is that they still intend to go on with the show. There are also, however, four additional email addresses given, for those who still have time and patience for writing. . . . To those who have already written: Thank you!

- For the past week or so, there's been a poll conducted at my local paper's online site: "Do you think Conneaut Lake Park should bend to PETA's criticism and cancel a tiger show planned for next year?" (No bias there.) Over 65% have voted "Yes." Of course, it's all very unofficial - still, it's a good result.

- I myself have sent off a couple more letters, including a Letter to the Editor of the local paper. Hopefully it will be printed soon.


To discuss the deer/hunter situation again, the paper reported today that the supervisor of the PA Game Commission's deer management section, Gary Alt, has left his job, apparently out of sheer frustration:

"Alt's departure on Friday at the age of 53 was described as a retirement, but Alt said he was leaving because a core group of well-organized hunters was limiting his ability to manage deer. 'I always said I would leave if I became ineffective, and I became ineffective,' he said. . . . In the job he started in 1999, Alt wrote measures designed to increase the number of large bucks and harvest more doe. His policies angered hunters because they lowered the overall deer population to maintain the habitat. Alt maintains that the state's deer herd has been too large for more than 80 years, reducing plant diversity and the land's ability to sustain a variety of wildlife. . . . Game Commissioner Stephen Mohr said he receives about 50 complaints a day from hunters about the size of the herd. 'I think they'll [i.e. the regulations Alt introduced] either be repealed voluntarily or they'll be repealed forcibly. The hunters are not going to stand idle any longer.' "

In other words, successful management of the deer herd makes for very angry hunters.

[catmandu]

The link given in the first post above no longer works: PETA has deleted the action alert. Why this has happened I don't know. Hopefully it means that PETA has received word from Park officials that they no longer intend to have a tiger display; however, no announcement to that effect has been made locally. I've written to PETA enquiring about the deletion. Any further info I get will, of course, be posted here.

[catmandu]

One last update:

I got in touch with PETA, and to make a long story short, the issue has been sidetracked until financial plans for the Park's upcoming season have been finalized. It's still possible - though highly unlikely, imo - that it won't open in 2005. I spoke to the head of the Park's board, who refused to confirm anything about use of the tigers, although he told my boss at work (they're casual acquaintances) that plans were still on. I also found out that the tigers are captive-bred, and that one or more of them is a "Golden Tabby" (born without stripes), and would if born in the wild have been killed by its mother (so the Park board's president told me). Which means the proposed "entertainment act" involving tigers will probably, if push comes to shove, be given the veneer of "conservationism" to make it more palatable to the general public.

The emails I exchanged with the PETA representative were interesting in that it raised questions as to what degree PETA uses individual activists like myself as "pawns" in the power games they play (vs acknowledging that, without such activists, their work would be severely hampered); the value of having such "power players" involved in AR; and the rather tricky business (for me, at this point in time) of becoming involved in such power games while maintaining a sense of my individual autonomy.

With regard the deer situation: A recently completed report sponsored by Audubon Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Habitat Alliance indicates that state-wide deer populations are still much too high; that most Pennsylvanians place ecological concerns over those of hunters; and that the PA Game Commission needs overhauling (i.e. nonhunters need to be appointed to the board; funding needs to come from sources other than hunters' fees). I've also visited some hunting boards to read of their discontent over not having enough animals to slaughter - depressing stuff. So I've written a letter to the state govenor requesting he consider overhauling the Game Commission, and emailed the PA Game Commission requesting they not give in to the selfish demands being made by some very vocal groups of hunters. The Commission recently decided to extend doe hunting season in 2005 by several weeks. Not what the hunters wanted - fewer does means fewer deer to kill in coming years. Or, as Charles Bolgiano, legislative director for the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, put it: "They're killing off too many does that are the mothers of our future bucks."

The ARA in me abhors being glad to see the doe hunting season extended - but the alternative is to allow the deer herd to grow, which means yet more deer slaughtered, plus further ecological problems.

Anyhow, working on these issues, plus doing some intensive reading of books, and educating myself/writing letters on other AR issues, has led me to that stomach-churning place which tells me it's time to take a break. So I'm going to go stick my head in the sand for awhile - a week or two anyhow.

[mountainvegan]

Anyhow, working on these issues, plus doing some intensive reading of books, and educating myself/writing letters on other AR issues, has led me to that stomach-churning place which tells me it's time to take a break. So I'm going to go stick my head in the sand for awhile - a week or two anyhow.

Yeah, we all need a break every once in a while. It's an endurance game like anything else. Good job, cat. :)

[catmandu]

An old thread I know, but I thought I'd post another update. PETA never renewed their action alert regarding the wild cat entertainment act at Conneaut Lake Amusement Park (because the Park board members continue to refuse to state publicly that they will go forward with the show featuring the cats - though, personally, I believe they're just trying to avoid protests), but another group has taken up the cause. Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania has already staged one protest, and is planning another for the Park's opening next Saturday. They even have a website devoted to the project:

http://www.conneautlakecruelty.com/

Contains mailing addresses to Park officials & etc, for any who feel so motivated. . . . Anyhow, I'm thrilled that the protests are continuing. Here's hoping.

P.S. Voices for Animals has offered to pay for transport of the cats to a sanctuary - so the protest now involves something more than simply telling the promoters to move on.

[jbphburg]

Great work keeping us abreast of the issue, thanks alot.

[catmandu]

So did it end with a fizzle or a bang? Final update (presumably) on big cat "magic act" at local amusement park:

Conneaut Lake Amusement Park, which was to host a magic act featuring six big cats, has announced that the act will not go on. The question still remains as to why, and there appears to be no certain answer. The Park claims it's because they can find no investors to sponsor the act; however, the Pittsburgh-based animal rights group Voices for Animals has been protesting at the Park since it opened for the summer, and had held at least one other protest before that time. They also did some leafletting; also they had a written petition which had been signed by several hundred (at last count) local residents.

The Park is obviously not likely to admit that protestors scared off potential sponsors for the show - and perhaps they didn't (the Park's financial situation remains extremely shaky); on the other hand, it's also likely that the high visibility Voices for Animals gave to the negative side of animal entertainment acts (er . . . wait a minute; that makes it sound like there's a positive side. But you get my drift) had some impact.

Unfortunately, the big cats will not be going to a sanctuary, only removed from the Park - where they have been living in conditions apparently more or less on a par with old-fashioned zoos (though in full compliance with welfare regulations - uh-huh). So for them, the situation remains unchanged. On a more positive note, the local community has been treated to its first ever full-fledged activist protest in the name of nonhuman animals. And that, in my opinion, is something to cheer about (cheered me up, anyway); for this community is small, a bit of a "backwater," really; yet even here people are beginning to be impacted by the animal rights movement in a very direct way.

I began this thread because, while I frequently hear people at VB saying they've done a protest or belong to an animal rights group, I've sometimes wondered (as alfiedog does, in the "Do Protests Work?" thread found in the Animal Rights and Welfare section of this site) what impact protesting has. Hence my interest in following a campaign from beginning to end. The question is hardly answered in any definitive way here, but it's been a fascinating process to watch unfold. All kudos should, of course, go to Voices for Animals (who, I note, are mentioned for leading successful campaigns against restaurants serving Fois Gras in the "Do Protests Work?" thread as well). Should the Park decide to go forward with any further plans for an animal entertainment act, they've promised to come back.

Thanks to any and all who may have written protest letters on behalf of the animals involved. You're all very cool.

[jenna]

Thanks for updating this! I hadn't seen this thread at all. Since the cats are being removed from the park....where, exactly, are they going? are there any sanctuaries at all that are wanting to take them?

[catmandu]

There have been no reports about where the cats will be taken after they leave the Park. This is to be done on or around July 31; if any info gets reported at that time I'll give it a post. Carl Beck owns the cats; according to the only source info I've ever found on him (located on the internet), which dates from 2002, Beck had been using big cats in his magic act since 1975, including three years at Las Vegas and three years of world touring. At the time of the 2002 interview, the cats were being held in a fenced-in compound (cages plus exercise area). He had retired, but his son was taking over the act. How Beck and the cats ended up at a financially struggling small-town amusement park is a mystery to me. Presumably the cats will be returning to their fenced-in compound - that is, I'm assuming they will continue to be used as part of what appears to be a family business.

Voices for Animals has offered to pay for the transport of the cats to a sanctuary. But Beck would have to give them up voluntarily, which isn't likely.

Further info can be found at: http://www.conneautlakecruelty.com/