Circus elephants in Cork incidents 'were drugged', lab tests reveal
Baby the elephant escapes her handlers
Independent tests on two circus elephants which were involved in incidents in Cork last month have shown the animals were drugged.
Courtney Brothers Circus ordered the tests after one of the animals broke out of its paddock, and another incident in which one elephant pushed another one which then fell onto a man who had to be hospitalised for his injuries.
Circus boss Wayne Courtney said the independent lab tests, conducted by Veterinary Lab Services Ireland Ltd, proved the elephants’ food was tampered with by an outside source while the circus was in Cork.
"Since we left Cork, there hasn’t been a single issue. It doesn’t take a genius to figure this out," he said.
The circus plans to seek legal advice before deciding whether to lodge a formal complaint with gardaí.
Additional reporting from the Irish Examiner
Click to stay connected with
more stories like this:
more stories like this:
