Vehicle hits, kills zebra
Opinions strong over use of creatures to entertain
The death of a zebra killed in traffic after escaping from the Chandler Ostrich Festival adds fuel to the debate about using animals in entertainment.
A zebra struck and killed in Wednesday morning traffic after escaping from the Chandler Ostrich Festival reignited debate over the role of animals in entertainment.
“This is barbaric, it’s outdated,” said Megan Maloy, a Chandler resident and business owner. “Just because it’s something that we’ve always done doesn’t make it right or mean we need to continue to do it.”
That sentiment was reflected in other online posts, although the festival has plenty of supporters. Some 100,000 people are expected to attend today through Sunday.
Teresa Perez Castaneda, who has born and raised in Chandler, has been going to the festival her whole life, even participating in the Ostrich Festival Parade as a little girl.
“Chandler is my hometown and it’s our favorite local fair,” she said.
Her children now are teenagers and their focus has moved away from the animals, but Castaneda still calls it a valued tradition.
“The ostriches are what makes the festival unique to Chandler,” she said.
The Phoenix suburb has celebrated the ostrich ranching history for the past 30 years, although festival-planners eliminated chariot races with the big birds last year. The festival continues to offer ostrich races and feature other animals, including camel rides, pig races and a petting zoo with exotic and domestic animals.
The Chandler Chamber of Commerce and Steve LeVine Entertainment, which put on the festival, are navigating changing attitudes about animals that have impacted other entertainment operations from Sea World to the Ringling Bros. Circus. Some states and localities have restricted the use of animals at carnivals and traveling shows.
The Chandler fest extends beyond animals to include amusement rides, music and food. The chamber highlighted a long entertainment lineup.
“The additional animal component is a small piece of the festival,” Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Terri Kimble said in a statement.
She did not respond to a request for comment on whether there has been any consideration to changes.
“The ostriches have a long history with the City of Chandler based on the history of ostrich ranching,” the statement said.
It’s unclear how the escaped zebra struck in morning traffic was involved with the festival.
A second escaped zebra was rounded up and returned to its pen, according to a statement from the Chamber of Commerce and Hendrick’s Promotions, which provides animals for the event.
Additional security measures were put in place to ensure the safety of the other animals, the statement said.
For Debbie Leahy, manager of captive wildlife protection for The Humane Society of the United States, it highlights why zebras shouldn’t be used.
“Zebras are very flighty animals,” she said. “They should not be used in traveling shows, period. They don’t have the temperament for it and using them in a traveling show is inviting this type of tragedy.”
Others have raised concerns through the years about racing the ostriches.
In 1995, three protesters were arrested after they chained themselves to the announcer’s stand and held a banner condemning the ostrich races.
Last year, a petition to stop the ostrich races garnered 2,816 signatures. The festival discontinued chariot races with the ostriches last year, but continues to race with jockeys.
Ostriches are not covered under the Federal Animal Welfare Act, and as a result, ostrich racing has virtually no oversight to ensure birds receive minimum standards of care, according to Kellye Pinkleton, Arizona State Director of the Humane Society of the United States.
“Ostrich racing is a cruel event that subjects the birds to stress and serious injury,” Pinkleton wrote in a letter to Chandler Mayor Jay Tibshraeny last year. “Their neck, legs, and back are fragile and simply aren’t built to support the weight of a human ‘jockey.’”
Kimble has disputed such claims. “They are very very strong animals,” Kimble said in 2017, adding that the birds are allowed to race one day and are ridden by professional jockeys.
For Maloy, the Chandler resident, she hopes the zebra’s death sparks continued conversation.
“I hope this zebra’s death creates a dialogue where people question if this is really necessary,” she said.
Four states and more than 135 localities in 37 states have passed restrictions governing the use of wild animals in circuses and traveling shows, according to the Humane Society.
Last year, Illinois became the first state to ban the use of elephants in circuses and other traveling exhibitions. Similarly, nine localities in Massachusetts banned the display of wild animals in circuses, carnivals or similar entities.
The Ringling Brothers Circus closed in May after 146 years of operation, not long after announcing they would retire elephants from its shows.