FORT WAYNE, Ind. - An elephant being loaded onto a truck trampled a circus animal trainer to death at Memorial Coliseum, police said.



Three handlers were loading the elephant Monday as crews packed up from this weekend's Shrine Circus, officials said. Two of the workers left the trailer and one man stayed behind to lock the trailer door.


A coliseum employee later saw the man lying inside a semitrailer with the elephants and alerted other handlers, said Victor Hopkins, spokesman for the Allen County Sheriff's Department. The man was taken to a hospital and died a few hours later.


Police said they did not know how many times the elephant stepped on the man, whose name was not released.


The elephants were calm when the other handlers returned to check on the man.


The U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites), which regulates circuses through the Animal Welfare Act, is looking into the incident, USDA spokesman Darby Holladay said.


Representatives of the circus could not be located for comment Tuesday.


Elephants are the largest of all land animals, and depending on the sex and species they could reach 13 feet in height and weigh up to 6.5 tons, according to the Humane Society of the United States' Web site.


Captive elephants from 1990 to 2003 killed 65 people and injured 130, according to Circuses.com.

"Bitch, I told you, I'm not goin' to Detroit!"



Flame me all you want, humans. I say for the elephant.

I mean

FunkMistress said:

They act like the elephant went crazy-- an elephant on a damn truck is crazy.


That Elephant went ELEPHANT!



I STOMP IDIOTS OUT



Let them beasts go. Why they gotta prance around in a damn circus. Kiss elephant ass!

FunkMistress said:

cinnamonjo said:

irresistibleb1tch said:

You're serious? I love you!

Mach said:

There is an obvious lesson to be learnt here: Don't stay behind to lock the trailer door.

FunkMistress said:

They wuz fighting over the same woman!!!

How cute is that???

Sometimes when animals attack a human (especially in a circus), it's because the animal has been mistreated. I'm not saying for sure that that's what happened in this situation, but I've heard of similar stories like this one before. If the elephant was mistreated, then we know how they say elephants never forget. According to what I've heard about these innocent animals, it's true.
[Edited 2/1/05 18:39pm]

HamsterHuey said:

Yes, irresistible is definitely serious. She's one of the most avid animal lovers/animal activists here on the org. We need more people like her in this world, since animals cannot speak for themselves.

FunkMistress said:

Me too. If the poor elephant was being mistreated, then I can see why it did what it did.

FunkMistress said:

Can't you all see why I love this woman?

HamsterHuey said:

i'm out there every year... how can i not?