ROCKPORT — The Walker Brothers Circus tent will rise again in Rockport this week, and in Manchester on July 18 and 19, despite the traveling Florida circus's long history of mistreating elephants.

Rockport Recreation Committee Chairwoman Donna Marshall says she's outraged that town officials continue to allow the circus to perform in Rockport.

According to the Virginia-based animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Walker Brothers Circus, former circus owner John Caudill Jr. and elephant trainer John Caudill III pleaded guilty in a federal administrative court to 18 violations of the Animal Welfare Act in 2004.

The Caudills were ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, and their circus exhibitor's license was to be suspended for five years. The circus, however, never served the suspension because it never reapplied for its exhibitor's license.

Jessica Milteer, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the Walker Brothers Circus is still not licensed to handle or care for animals. But, she said, that it doesn't mean the circus can't hire individually licensed animal acts — and that's how the circus operates.

"We're still performing inspections and looking at Walker Brothers activity as much as we can," Milteer said yesterday. "It would be the contractors who were inspected, but if we found the contractors were (Walker Brothers Circus) employees or that employees were directly involved with animal care, we'd have another case. It's not something that falls off our radar, but there's nothing we can do about them having contractors."

That raises red flags for Marshall.

"I am not sure why we allow (the Caudills) and this circus to continue to come to town," Marshall said. "To make money off of the cruelty to animals, to me, is just incredible. We are truly not good role models to our children to continue to do this." Records show that the federal Department of Agriculture charged Walker Brothers Circus and its employees with causing physical harm and discomfort; failing to provide veterinary care to an emaciated elephant, an elephant suffering from severe chemical burns and a bacterial infection; unsafe public contact; and operating without an exhibitor's license in 2003.

In its continuing effort to combat Walker Brothers' "abusive practices," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals provided evidence to the Department of Agriculture for the case against the circus itself.

Marshall, who has teamed with local veterinarian Ann Lewis to help raise money for the construction of a stray animal shelter in Rockport, said she has been involved with the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee for many years. The sanctuary is where the Hawthorn elephants were placed in 2004.

"Elephants are bright, wonderful animals that develop mental illness and serious physical ailments when confined to this lifestyle for our entertainment," Marshall said. "How do you think we get them to do tricks? It is always — 100 percent of the time — through cruelty. John Walker (aka John Caudill) is the man who soaked a poor elephant's feet in formaldehyde for some unknown reason, causing chemical burns; this is the same man that entertains us each year in Rockport."

The Rockport Rotary Club sponsors the circus's visit in Rockport and Town Administrator Michael Racicot issues a permit to the circus each year. According to Racicot, elephant abuse was an issue five years ago, but his understanding is that it has since been resolved.

"Since that time, to the best of what we have discovered, the circus has taken care of all those allegations and has not been getting write-ups for treating animals poorly," Racicot said yesterday. "The Rotary has reached out to some people from PETA and made it clear that they were more than welcome to come on-site and look at the conditions."

Attempts to contact Rotary officials were unsuccessful yesterday. The circus is also scheduled to visit Manchester on July 18 and 19; that visit is sponsored by the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce

Marshall said that when she questioned the prior Board of Selectmen about the circus's visits in the past, a Rotary official blamed another company for the cruelty. Marshall said she had prepared a written statement to read ahead of selectmen's vote on whether or not to allow the circus to come to town this year, but was never made aware of when the vote would take place.

"I am a peacemaker in our community and disdain controversy at all costs," Marshall said, "and I risk alienation with this, but this whole thing needs to come out."

Walker Brothers Circus employee Dale Mire said the "one-ring, European-style" circus today features dogs, ponies, an exotic goat act and a comedy horse routine.

"We don't have elephants," Mire said yesterday from her Florida office, "just domestic animals."

According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, at the start of the decade, Walker Brothers leased elephants from Hawthorn Corp. In 2004, Hawthorn admitted guilt to 19 Animal Welfare Act violations and agreed to turn over all 16 of its elephants in addition to paying a $200,000 fine.

According to a fact sheet about the Sarasota, Fla.-based circus prepared by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Department of Agriculture cited Walker Brothers' elephant exhibitor, Cole Brothers Circus, on June 23, 2004, for failure to correct a previously identified violation of causing elephants trauma, physical harm, and behavioral stress when Walker Brothers performed in Rockport.

Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.

If you go

In Rockport, the Walker Brothers Circus is scheduled to perform four shows at the school complex on Jerden's Lane. Performances are scheduled for 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 11, while the 90-minute shows begin at 3 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday, July 12.

Tickets for the Rockport shows may be purchased from Rotary members or by calling 978-546-2229. Advance adult tickets are available at $12 per adult. Two children 14 and under are admitted free with one adult in advance. At the door, tickets are $14 per adult and $5 per child (ages 2-14). Proceeds from the circus will be used to fund ongoing Rotary programs.

In Manchester, the circus will perform four shows at Masconomo Park; on Friday, July 18, at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., and on Saturday, July 19, at 3 and 5:30 p.m. Midway opens one hour prior to each show. Advance tickets are $12 per adult, and children younger than 14 are free with a paying adult. Sponsored by Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce. For tickets, call 978-283-1601.