The lion's roar

There's only room for one big cat at the corner of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.

That's what an animal-rights group discovered while protesting the upcoming Ringling Bros. & Barnum Bailey circus June 15, when Jil Evans, a 22-year-old PETA volunteer from Maryland, took off her black terry robe and revealed a body painted in tiger stripes -- she wore little more than pasties, black briefs and a black, tiger-ear headband -- for an animal-rights protest in front of the MGM Grand lion. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) representatives from Maryland drove in for the one-hour protest and gathered with the ranks of other local animal-rights activists such as Linda Faso.

Evans sat in a makeshift wire cage off to the side of the sidewalk through-way, silently holding a sign that read "Wild animals don't belong behind bars." As Evans' body and its vegan paints baked in the sun, other activists held up PETA banners and shouted slogans denouncing the Ringling Bros. & Barnum Bailey circus (which opens for a limited engagement on June 22 at the Orleans Arena, a hotel not affiliated with MGM Mirage) for allegedly abusing animals used in its three traveling shows. Faso said they chose the Strip location for the protest because it was high-profile.

"I hope the people who are buying the tickets [for the circus] think twice," said Faso, a longtime local animal rights activist who was the spokeswoman for that day's protest. Although she is not a member of PETA, Faso helped volunteers distribute anti-circus-themed literature and chanted slogans.

Mistreatment of animals in the circus, in particular elephants, is at the center of a 2000 lawsuit filed by former Ringling elephant crewman Tom Rider, who left the company after working there more than two years. In the federal lawsuit, which is still awaiting a trial date, Rider alleges he saw cruel treatment of elephants on a daily basis and that Ringling violates the Endangered Species Act. Four nonprofit organizations have joined Rider's lawsuit: Animal Protection Institute, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Fund for Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute. Rider, who now lives off private donations and funding from animal-rights organizations and tours the country speaking out against circuses that use animals, was in Las Vegas earlier in the week.

Things started off relatively small and organized with the June 15 PETA protest, the first of many planned in conjunction with the circus this week. (Another is planned opening night outside the Orleans Arena.) Many tourists shuffled by without pause. Others were outraged by or took pictures of the scantily clad Evans.

"I think it's kind of ridiculous," said Ashley Erdle, from Seattle, adding that animal welfare is an important issue but it's not handled right by PETA. "I don't think they know what they're talking about."

Meanwhile, Dallas resident Nancy Middlebrooks had a revelation upon seeing the demonstration and reading an accompanying pamphlet.

"I didn't know they did things like that," Middlebrooks said while looking at a photo of elephants chained and beaten.

About a half-hour into the protest, two red-blazered MGM Grand security guards strolled out and asked the demonstrators to pack up. The security guards, who communicated by walkie-talkie to unidentified management officials, told the PETA protesters that if they didn't have a permit they had to move along or they would call the cops. One PETA volunteer spoke calmly to the guards about First Amendment rights, but his arguments fell on deaf ears as the guard reached over to his walkie-talkie and said, "Yeah, they're refusing to leave." In the end, the guards allowed the demonstrators five minutes to finish their protest before calling the police.

When reached for comment on June 19, MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said the security guards told him a different version of events. He said the guards asked the protesters if they knew that the circus was not being held at the MGM Grand and then the protesters asked if they could have five more minutes to take pictures. That is not what this reporter, who was standing right next to the security guards and the PETA volunteer, witnessed.

Feldman refused to comment on whether a security officer would be disciplined if he was found to violate rules about allowing free speech activities on the sidewalk in front of an MGM Mirage property. However, he said the security guards are told that they are to allow free-speech activities on Strip sidewalks and PETA should "file a protest" if they were asked to leave.

"This type of speech, as the PETA people know, is allowed, regardless of who owns the sidewalks," Feldman said.

That's true. In 2001 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that sidewalks on the Strip, regardless of whether they are publicly or privately owned by casinos, constitute a public forum and are subject to the protections of the First Amendment.

Allen Lichtenstein of the ACLU of Nevada said this is a recurring issue on the Strip.

"It's been established over and over and over again [that Strip sidewalks are a public forum]," Lichtenstein said. "It's not enough to say after the fact that they understand it."

In July 2004, security guards and Metro bicycle cops shut down a PETA protest in front of the Mirage hotel-casino. Likewise, in March 2005 a local peace demonstration and march down the Strip to the Bellagio ended with Metro officers arresting several protesters despite their plans for a nonviolent vigil to honor those who've died in the Iraq war.

ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Gary Peck said there are numerous examples of Strip casino security shutting down marches and demonstrations and it has to stop.

Emmily Bristol is a CityLife staff writer. She can be reached at 871-6780 ext. 344 or ebristol@lvcitylife.com.