IDA's Matt Rossell recently visited his home state of Nebraska to testify at a Judicial Committee Hearing in favor of LB 1000, a bill that would make Nebraska the first state to ban the use of the bullhook and other abusive tools used to control elephants. Handlers in zoos and circuses commonly use bullhooks and other objects to punish and control elephants as part of their "training" for captivity. The bullhook's handle is made of wood, metal, plastic or fiberglass, and has a sharp steel hook and a point at the top like a fireplace poker. By hooking sensitive parts of an elephant's body with varying degrees of force, a handler can compel the massive animal to move in any desired direction (that is, away from the discomfort or pain).

Rossell shared his experiences working undercover on Walker Brother's Circus, stating, "I will never forget the day when Liz [a circus elephant] was viciously beaten with the bullhook after the show… The whacking sound of the bullhook hitting her body echoed across the fairgrounds, as did her screams in response to the beating."

The bill was introduced by Senator Marian Price and co-sponsored by Senator Ernie Chambers, who sat on the committee. Chambers championed the elephants' case and drilled Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus spokespersons with tough questions. In the end, when asked why they needed to use a bullhook instead of, say, a wooden cane to "guide" the elephants, Ringling staff response was, "they don't last as long." That was after Ringling had admitted to paying the Ruth Mueller Robak lobbying firm $40,000 to oppose this bill! The savvy senator exposed the hyperbole and even had Ringling employees admitting their circus might not really be the "greatest show on earth" as their prepared testimony had claimed.

Students attending Prairie Hills Learning Center, a private school near Lincoln, stunned senators with their testimony in favor of the bill and grabbed headlines in Nebraska's two main newspapers the next day. "We are not the only sentient beings on the Earth," said Alexander Dugas, an articulate 12 year-old student. Elephants are beautiful, highly intelligent creatures that are "poked, prodded, and pushed until they do what we what we want them to do, where we want them to do it. We should not treat animals this way and we should pass this bill." Dugas further asserted that he and his classmates collected signatures from more than 500 "everyday people" who support the compassionate measure.

Rossell was honored with an invitation to the school to lead a discussion about his undercover work for animals and share a vegan meal with these enlightened students.

• Contact your legislators on the local and state level and ask them to introduce legislation to ban the use of bullhooks. Pompano Beach, Florida, recently banned bullhooks by categorizing them as devices "likely to cause physical injury, torment or pain and suffering to animals." You can get contact information for your elected officials by clicking here and entering your zip code.
  
  
• Nebraska residents: click http://ga0.org/campaign/LB1000 to send your Senators an automatic e-mail message urging them to support and co-sponsor LB 1000, the bill to ban cruel bullhooks. You can also get the mailing address and phone number for your elected officials by clicking here and entering your zip code. Also sign a petition to the Nebraska State Legislature urging them to ban the bullhook.