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L.A. City Animal Services shuts down elephant circus show

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A circus elephant act in Panorama City was shut down Thursday by Los Angeles city animal services, the LA Daily News reports.

The elephant act, contracted to appear with Circus Vazquez, was found to be violation of the City of Los Angeles’ permit requirements.

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The elephants, Tina, Jewel and Queenie, have a long history of abuse and neglect, all documented in official U.S. Department of Agriculture records, said Ed Boks, general manager of Animal Services.

Boks told the Daily News that when he contacted the USDA, he found out that the elephants’ owner, Will Davenport, acting under different names and business aliases in Arizona and Texas, had a history of numerous Animal Welfare Act violations.

‘We commend L.A. Animal Services for taking action to prevent these abused elephants from being exploited in our city,” said Catherine Doyle, a campaign director for In Defense of Animals, which helped draft the city permit guidelines. “If only federal authorities would act as swiftly and decisively as the city has.”

Doyle told the L.A. Times she’s calling for federal authorities to seize the elephants and return them to an animal sanctuary.

-Francisco Vara-Orta

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