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The Jordan World Circus

The Jordan Circus travels tens of thousands of miles a year across the western United States and Canada, turning a profit by cramming as many performances and miles in as possible at the expense of their animals.

Animals' poor condition raises concerns with animal control officers in Montana

Circus-goers at a Jordan Circus in Gallatin County, Montana, last summer reported that "the animals were not being taken care of and some had injuries." The County Fair Board voted unanimously not to allow the Jordan Circus back the following year unless they improved.

The Jordan Circus, responding to a letter from the Gallatin County Fair Board, blamed the problems on a sub-contractor and claimed that they had been rectified (circuses regularly "rent" their animals from third party suppliers). Boardmembers noted that the response letter appeared to be a "form letter." In the end, the board decided to allow the Jordan Circus to return only if they agreed to the stipulations that the Jordan Circus be held solely accountable for the actions of their sub-contractors, and that animal control officers be allowed to inspect the animals prior to the circus. Fairgrounds personnel confirmed that the Jordan CIrcus did not apply for a 2007 booking.

Sources: Gallatin County Fair Board minutes, June 16, 2006 and December 19, 2006. Additional details gathered from a phone conversation with Gallatin County Fairgrounds employee.

Hawthorne elephants and the Jordan Circus.

The Jordan Circus, like many traveling circuses, rents most of their wild animals from companies like the Hawthorne Corporation.

The Hawthorne Corporation was charged by the USDA with 47 violations of the minimal standards set forth by the Animal Welfare Act. These charges involved the mistreatment of 12 elephants between the dates of March 29, 2001 and June 1, 2002.

Many Shriner circuses rent elephants from the Hawthorne Corporation--including the Jordan World Circus.

USDA Citations of Jordan Circus

We were able to obtain copies of the original USDA documentation that found the Jordan Circus in repeated violation of the Animal Welfare Act. Given the short amount of time remaining before this weekend's circus we have opted to let the primary sources speak for themselves and postpone analysis and commentary until time permits. The following files are Adobe Acrobat files. NOTE: one should not assume that the Jordan Circus has not been cited since 1998 but rather our source for this information was not in possession of any more recent documentation.