“Where should an aging animal who has had a traumatic life go to live out her remaining years in peace?” - Star Tribune

“Two women have admitted to smuggling into Minnesota and selling at a Hmong marketplace in St. Paul a host of products derived from various protected wildlife, including elephant, leopard, leaf monkey and weasel.” - Star Tribune

“Davison seems to indicate that a back-stage pass to the circus would help in some way to inform the issue. This is nonsense, as the cruelty that is at the very heart of the issue itself could have, and likely would have, occurred during the elephants’ training, and not backstage during the circus.” - Star Tribune

“Last Friday, Minneapolis City Council Member Ralph Remington was on his animal rights soapbox, declaring at the council meeting that banning elephant rides was a moral imperative. As inspired orators often do, Remington reached for a prop — an elephant guide, or bull hook — and waved the supposed instrument of punishment about.” - Star Tribune

“A childhood rite of passage may be banned in Minneapolis on Friday, when according to The Star Tribune, the city council is expected to vote on an unusual issue: elephant rides.” - New York Times Blog

“Shriners threaten to leave town if City Council approves changes to circus animal ordinance.” - Star Tribune

“Children were greeted at the door by people for and against use of animals in circus acts as the colorful three-ring spectacle known as the 2007 Minneapolis Shrine Circus came to the Target Center.” - Star Tribune

“Imagine this: You go to the circus at the Target Center, planning to have a good time. You settle into your seat with some popcorn and start people watching. The far ring catches your eye — it has elephants lined up, ready to give rides. You look a little closer and notice the elephants look like the walking dead: thin, depressed, utterly resigned. Walking next to them is a man carrying a sharp hook on the end of a stick.” - Star Tribune