Posted July 9, 2014
On May 15,
animal
welfare groups agreed to pay $15.7 million to the Ringling
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which marked the end of a 14-year-old
battle. Now the animal welfare groups are suing their insurers who advised the
groups four years ago they would not cover the attorney fees, according to a
Washington Examiner article by Richard Pollock available here.
The fees were accumulated during Animal Welfare Institute v. Feld Entertainment lawsuit
that was filed in 2000. Feld Entertainment owns Ringling Bros. and Barnum &
Bailey Circus, known to millions of Americans as “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
Four animal rights groups and several individuals, including
Tom Rider, who once worked for Ringling Bros, accused Feld of abusing elephants.
Misconduct in the case surfaced that questioned the
credibility of the animal rights groups.
"The entire lawsuit was based on either misleading or
outright false statements of fact," said John Simpson, a law partner at
the law firm of Fulbright and Jaworski and the lead attorney for Feld
Entertainment.
After the settlement was announced, the Humane Society of
the U.S. (HSUS) and the Fund for Animals “defiantly claimed” their insurance
would be responsible for the fees.
“We expect that a substantial portion, if not all, of the
settlement costs to the HSUS and the Fund for Animals will be covered by
insurance, and in the end, that no donor dollars from the HSUS will go to
Feld,” according to a HSUS
statement.
The insurance companies include the National Union Fire
Insurance Co., the Travelers and Charter Oak Fire Insurance Co, according to
the Washington
Examiner.
HSUS is urging Feld to use the money to protect threatened
and endangered elephants.
“But with the funds Feld is receiving, we urge the company
to combat the killing of tens of thousands of elephants for their ivory. An
additional $15 million can save countless elephants, by putting more armed
guards on the ground or by working to reduce demand in ivory-consuming
countries.”
For more information on Animal Welfare and the Endangered
Species Act, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
