Monday, June 16, 2008

Kelly Miller

MANSFIELD -- The Kelly Miller Circus will make a stop at the Richland County Fairgrounds on Friday during this year's tour across North America.
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Performances are set for 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Friday in the big top on the east parking lot. In addition, anyone can come out for free Friday morning and watch the animals being unloaded and fed, and the elephants raising the big top. Activities will begin at 7:30 a.m., and the tent will be raised between 8:30 and 9 a.m. Guides will be furnished.

The circus that features clowns, trapeze artists, acrobats, tigers, elephants, dog acts and more is marking its 70th anniversary year. According to promotional material provided by the circus, Obert Miller and his two sons launched the circus in 1938, leaving their home in Kansas and traveling by truck to put on a show with ponies and monkeys. The Kelly Miller Circus will travel nearly 10,000 miles, still by truck, and perform in more than 200 places between March and October.

Noting that animal welfare issues have been in the news, the circus also provided a statement about its "commitment to our animal friends," reporting, "We do not tolerate cruelty in the training of our animals."

The circus is regulated and licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is a member of the Endangered Ark Foundation, a group dedicated to preserving Asian elephants. Its elephants participated in the EAF's breeding program.

"Our animals are an important part of our circus family and we have strong emotional bonds with them. Economically, they represent major financial investments, and it defies logic to think that we would intentionally harm or mistreat them," the statement said.

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