After litigating for more than a decade with the owners of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for their treatment of circus elephants, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) settled its court battle with the company in December 2012, according to several newspaper articles.  The ASPCA apparently hired a plaintiff that the court did not believe according to newspapers.  The ASPCA indicated that it settled the case in order to avoid expensive and protracted litigation.  Also, it stated that it did not admit any wrongdoing or liability.

The ASPCA is only one of many who alleged that the circus owner, the Feld Entertainment is abusing its circus elephants.  Feld Entertainment on the other hand fighting with several other animal rights groups including The Humane Society of the United States, the Fund for Animals, The Animal welfare Institute, and the Animal Protection Institute and cases against them are still continuing.

Since the courts did not rule on the ASPCA’s claim that the circus abused elephants, it leaves the door widely open for other animal rights groups to sue the circus company in the future if cruelty to animals continue.