Animal group: Dumbo’s handler’s death no accident

An animal protection group is challenging a Pennsylvania coroner's finding that the death of a circus animal handler when he was kicked by an elephant was an accident.

The California-based In Defense of Animals, which opposes keeping elephants in captivity, sent a letter to Luzerne County Coroner John Corcoran arguing that Dumbo, an African elephant, intended to kick Andrew Anderton, 48, at the Irem Shrine Circus in Wilkes Barre on Friday.

Corcoran's office said it had received the letter but that he had not read it yet.

In the letter, the IDA quotes elephant expert Joyce Poole as saying, "Dumbo may not have intended to kill her keeper with her kick, but she certainly intended to kick him."

"With a body weighing six tons elephants are extremely careful and rarely do anything by accident," Poole is quoted as saying. "They have superior sense of hearing, an incredible sense of smell and they are able to detect minute vibrations via their feet. Dumbo would have known that Anderson was approaching her from behind; she would have been able to smell, feel and hear him."

An e-mail was sent to Poole, who is based in Africa, seeking additional comment.

The letter signed by IDA's executive director Catherine Doyle said removing elephants from the wild and keeping them chained and in confined spaces away from contact with other elephants creates "a great deal of stress."

That stress, in turn, sometimes results in fatal attacks on humans, the organization said.

In asking Corcoran to revisit the case, the IDA said his finding of accidental death sends a message that "such occurrences are mere accidents, which lulls the public into a false sense of security."

"In fact, this was not an accident or isolated incident, and it is important the public understands this before deciding to attend circuses that use wild animals to perform and give rides," the group said.

The IDA said that since 1990 elephants have been blamed in the deaths of at least 14 people and for injuring more than 135 others in the United States.