Burghers and bohemians were crying, together, right there on the corner of Damen and Milwaukee. Or at least a few of them were crying. More were merely cringing at the sights and sounds emanating from the truck parked there–a clean white vehicle not unlike an ice cream truck, but with TV screens and posters for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals mounted on either side.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Rivas-Rivas, 30, and Robertson, 22, were nearing the end of a tour that had taken them from PETA headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, to Chicago, where their aim was to drive around the United Center on the circus’s opening night, November 19. But the night before they found themselves with time to kill, and set up this preview in Wicker Park. Rivas-Rivas, an incongruously cheerful ex-navy officer, said PETA has two elephant tapes–and that the one he was showing was the easier one to watch. He prefers it when he’s trying to get people to stop so he can talk to them. “With the other video, I tend to lose them,” he said. “Even with this subtler one–did you see that lady who just left? She was crying.”
Some of the footage was clearly shot at Ringling Bros., though most of it appeared to be at least several years old. John Kirtland, executive director of animal stewardship for the circus, says Ringling Bros. forbids trainers to use electric prods or blowtorches. But chains and bull hooks, he claims, are necessary and accepted elephant-handling tools. He compares them to a leash on a dog or a bit in a horse’s mouth. Does it hurt when the trainers whack the animals with the hooks? “It’s annoying or irritating to the elephant,” Kirtland says, but if done properly, it’s not actually painful. Some elephant trainers do abuse the hooks–but not, he insists, at Ringling Bros.
On the 19th, the plan was to drive down the Magnificent Mile at rush hour, then head west on Madison, arriving at the United Center in time to greet circusgoers. As the truck sat at stoplights, commuters and pedestrians alike turned toward the TV screens. At the corner of Chicago and Michigan a man in a pickup truck mouthed “Damn, damn, damn” in rhythm with the beating an elephant was taking onscreen.
