A source close to John Cuneo, the owner of infamous circus supplier Hawthorn Corporation, has leaked information to PETA that we hope will convince the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to revoke Hawthorn's exhibitor license permanently and to seek criminal charges against Cuneo as well as Lance Ramos, an unlicensed exhibitor who has repeatedly abused and neglected exotic animals and who, according to the whistleblower's testimony, was unlawfully hired by Hawthorn.

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Hawthorn breeds tigers and leases them to circuses around the world. It has provided Shrine circuses, Cole Bros. Circus, Jordan World Circus, George Carden Circus, Hanneford Circus, and Tarzan Zerbini Circus with tigers. The whistleblower gave PETA firsthand information about pervasive abuse and neglect of animals and apparent violations of federal law, including the following:

• During a training session, Ramos heavily whipped tigers, often in their faces, and jabbed them with wooden rods.
• Tigers were denied veterinary care for open, bleeding wounds and gashes on their foreheads on at least two occasions.
• Tigers are routinely kept in small transport cages in which they pace constantly and are let out only for performances.
• Hawthorn routinely fails to clean urine-soaked concrete floors in tigers' enclosures and leaves out fly-infested raw meat intended for the tigers to eat.
• Even in near-freezing temperatures, tigers were left outside with no protection from the elements.
• Hawthorn does not keep accurate records of tigers' births and deaths, and Cuneo purposefully fails to update the USDA with other requisite information.

These allegations are just the latest in Hawthorn's long, sordid history of cruelty to animals. Please join PETA in asking the USDA to take the appropriate disciplinary action, including revoking Hawthorn's license to exhibit animals.

Update: PETA has now confirmed that the USDA has not one but two open investigations into AWA violations by the Hawthorn Corporation: one prompted by PETA's complaint regarding Hawthorn's use of Lance Ramos (see below) to unlawfully exhibit tigers in violation of the USDA's revocation of Ramos' license and the other arising from a separate case in Florida. Please urge the agency to follow the lead of governments around the world in defending animals against abuse by circuses and exhibitors by permanently revoking Hawthorn's license.

Originally posted on February 8th, 2013: 

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A History of Horrors

As PETA has learned from years of working to free animals from Hawthorn's cruel clutches, calling Hawthorn "notorious" is actually putting it rather mildly. The exotic-animal exhibitor's reprehensible history of AWA violations include USDA citations issued on more than 60 occasions for Hawthorn's many failures to provide animals with proper veterinary care, nutrition, safe or sanitary enclosures, safe or humane handling practices, exercise, and adequate space.

The USDA's previous enforcement actions against Hawthorn have entailed multiple license suspensions, more than a quarter of a million dollars in penalties, and confiscation or ordered surrender of at least 17 exotic animals. None of these actions have done anything to ensure even adequate treatment of the animals Hawthorn forces to perform.

Law Without Justice?

The USDA has recognized that continuing to fail to adhere to minimum standards of sanitation and feeding—both of which are chronic problems for Hawthorn—are violations for which an AWA license should be revoked. Yet the USDA appears to be granting Hawthorn preferential treatment by repeatedly renewing its license.

Someone whose license was permanently revoked is animal trainer Lance Ramos (aka "Lancelot Kollman") after AWA citations for, among other cruelty, using physical abuse as a "training tool" on exotic cats to the point that at least one of them died and denying adequate veterinary care to an elephant so severely emaciated that he was a full ton underweight when the USDA confiscated him. Despite this, Hawthorn brought Ramos on board to train and exhibit tigers, and PETA has provided evidence to the USDA that he recently illegally exhibited the big cats with a Shrine circus and Showfolks Circus. 

What You Can Do

Every day that Hawthorn remains licensed is a day that animals are suffering. Please send a polite e-mail to USDA General Counsel Ramona Romero urging the agency to revoke Hawthorn's license immediately and permanently disqualify its employees and agents from obtaining a USDA license.

When the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) permanently revokes an animal exhibitor's license, it means game over—that person or company can never again exhibit animals. But Lancelot Kollman, aka Lance Ramos, a notorious animal abuser who flagrantly disregards the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), must think that he is above the law. PETA caught Kollman in the act, exhibiting tigers with the notorious Hawthorn Corporation at a Shrine circus in Fort Worth, Texas.

For animals in circuses, there is no such thing as "positive reinforcement"—only varying degrees of punishment and deprivation. 

PETA has passed this evidence on to the USDA, prompting a formal investigation into both Kollman and Hawthorn. PETA is demanding that the agency pursue criminal charges against Kollman and permanently revoke Hawthorn's exhibitor license. This is far from the first run-in either one has had with the law.

When the USDA yanked Kollman's license in 2009, he had racked up quite a rap sheet for cruelty to animals by denying animals veterinary care, clean water, and adequate shelter; forcing them to live in unsanitary conditions; using physical abuse as a "training tool"; abusing two young lions to the point that one of them died; and starving an elephant so much that he was a full ton underweight when the USDA took the extraordinary enforcement action of confiscating him.

The Hawthorn Corporation brought Kollman onboard despite his well-documented history of animal abuse and neglect. That's no surprise since Hawthorn doesn't exactly play by the rules. The USDA knows Hawthorn well: The first time it ever exercised its authority to seize an elephant was from the Hawthorn Corporation, after an extensive campaign by PETA. Hawthorn had allowed an elephant named Delhi to stand in undiluted formaldehyde, which resulted in severe chemical burns, and then denied her proper veterinary care for her wounds. Hawthorn was subsequently ordered to relinquish custody of 16 additional elephants. The USDA has also suspended Hawthorn's exhibitor license twice, fined it a total of more than a quarter of a million dollars, and issued numerous cease-and-desist orders.

Hawthorn's litany of more than 60 violations of the AWA includes feeding animals moldy and fly-infested food, denying sick animals veterinary care, forcing tigers to live in tiny transport crates for months at a time, using unsafe handling practices, and keeping tigers who were not compatible in small cages together, which resulted in several tigers' deaths. In a span of just nine years, at least 32 tigers owned by Hawthorn died. Many of them were young, and many of them died under circumstances that were entirely preventable, such as from unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

Urge the USDA to show Kollman and Hawthorn that they are not above the law. Ask the agency to pursue criminal charges against Kollman and permanently revoke Hawthorn's license. Enough is enough.

Behold the power of the pen and the protest: Walker Bros. Circus has axed elephant acts from its lineup—and it seems that there's little chance the pachyderms will return. A spokesperson told KeyNews.com that the circus has "basically done away with using exotic animals in the show because of the [animal rights] activists."

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PETA has long denounced Walker Bros. Circus for its abuse of elephants, many of whom were leased from Hawthorn Corp., which was forced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to surrender 16 elephants after the agency charged both Hawthorn and Walker Bros. Circus with numerous serious violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

It was the concern and actions of caring people that prompted Walker Bros. Circus to finally drop exotic animals from its lineup—and maybe the circus will eventually drop all animal acts. Let's remember this as we continue to rally against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's shocking mistreatment of elephants and other animals.

Written by Karin Bennett