Ringling Bros. circus trainers cruelly force baby elephants to learn tricks, and it's not through a reward system, as they claim. Explore the photos that will make parents think twice about taking their child to the circus.

You may have wondered how Ringling Bros. gets 8,000-pound elephants to perform tricks like sitting up and even standing on their heads, but now you know. Ringling breaks the spirit of elephants when they're vulnerable babies who should still be with their mothers. Unsuspecting parents planning a family trip to the circus don't know about the violent training sessions with ropes, bullhooks, and electric shock prods that elephants endure, so we need you to tell them. PARENTS PLEASE do not being your kids to a circus where animals are forced to perform!

Below is a link to pictures proving this point:

http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/bound-babies.asp

I am one of Help Save One’s very satisfied adopters and I wish you had interviewed someone like me as well as those with negative experiences. I have been involved in dog rescue in Canada so I know first-hand about the challenges and staggering costs involved. 
My Help Save One dog was Sophia, an elderly and severely abused Boston terrier from Greenville, South Carolina. Marissa approved my application and I paid $150 through Paypal. (I had already sent $50 with the application.) But I had to travel and could not take Sophia for two months. To accommodate me, Pam, Marissa’s partner in rescue, cared for Sophia in her home, keeping me updated with emailed photos and progress reports. In late August, Pam and I arranged to meet in Syracuse, New York, about five hours drive for each of us. We met as planned, in a Howard Johnson’s parking lot, walked about for several minutes while Pam gave me as much information about my new dog as she could, and then said our goodbyes. All Sophia’s veterinary documents were in order and we easily crossed the Canadian border. 

Your reporter seems shocked that Help Save One often delivers dogs in parking lots and malls. Clearly he is unaware that this is common in rescue. Transports are meticulously planned and include neutral public meeting places that are near highways and exit ramps; malls and other parking lots are usually excellent and sensible choices. 
As for bringing diseased dogs into Rhode Island, please don’t exaggerate. Dogs with worms are not diseased and, in fact, it’s common for puppies to have hookworms and roundworms. It’s nothing serious and certainly not a disease. Marissa is very careful about puppies with parvo; on several occasions I have seen her despair because a litter of pups she had arranged to rescue was afflicted with parvo and either died or had to be euthanized before reaching safety. Though she is rescuing from Southern shelters with heartbreaking statistics about euthanasia – usually by gassing or excruciating heartsticking – she does not take animals with contagious diseases. Are they all in the pink of health? Of course not! They come from horrendous conditions and are very stressed by transport, and they need the proverbial tender loving care. Adopters of dogs rescued from impoverished Southern shelters surely expect a few challenges!

It seems clear from Part 2 of your investigation that in desperate efforts to save dogs, Help Save One has incurred debts that remain unpaid. This is unacceptable and must be addressed. It is unfair to those who helped expecting to be paid, and it jeopardises future rescue efforts. But unpaid bills are not what defines Help Save One, and it is distressing that your investigation missed what would have been a truly great story: a young woman battling stage four, metastasized breast cancer and undergoing grueling chemotherapy nonetheless remains committed to rescuing dogs with outlooks as bleak as hers – and she saves them, one at a time. Like my Sophia, now curled up at my feet, snoring away in her dog bed. What chance did Sophia have? She was old, deaf, blind and mutilated, starved and dehydrated, and riddled with ticks. Thanks to Marissa, who recognized her great and loving character, and to Pam, who patiently cared for her, tending her wounds and cooking the only food she could tolerate, Sophia now has a wonderful life. What a story that would have been, instead of concentrating on unpaid bills incurred in desperation, and the inevitable failed adoptions that come with emergency rescuing. 

What I hope your story achieves is not to shut down Help Save One but to improve it. Here’s my bucket list: a team of knowledgeable and organized volunteers to help Marissa and Pam with their paperwork and accounting; a huge increase in donations earmarked for acquitting outstanding bills and for providing the Gold Standard vetting so well described by the veterinarian you interviewed; more foster homes to acclimatize the dogs before adoption; and a successful application to become a 501(c) 3 rescue. And most of all, that Marissa’s chemotherapy succeeds in restoring to health this most dedicated of dog rescuers.
And a year later, a follow-up I-Team investigation that (let’s hope! Let’s pray!) might conclude with this report: Help Save One, now has 501(c) 3 status; its Board of Directors (shown waving sheaths of documents) has received acknowledgement that all outstanding debts have been repaid; new and rigorous guidelines have been implemented to ensure compliance with all state and federal regulations; a revamped adoption process explains what’s involved in rescuing from Southern shelters, including the risks; and lastly, doctors confirm that Marissa’s cancer has been cured.

Elizabeth Abbott
www.elizabethabbott.ca 

Channel 10 in efforts with RISPCA and RI Defenders of Animals is airing a very inaccurate report on Monday & Tuesday of this week which will call Help Save One "Dog Traffickers" amoung many other things. 

Bottom line is Help Save One will fight for the rights of all dogs to legally come into any state as long as DOA regulations are followed. We have retained counsel due to this smear story and will be taking matters to the fullest extent of the law. 

We know it is no fun to chip in for legal bills but this fight is for the dogs. It is bigger than Help Save One. It is standing up to these large institutions and telling them we will not be intimidated and we will fight back. 

Even a dollar helps! This is not tax deductible but I promise your donation will bring us closer to standing up to rescue bullies.