Rosaire Animal Trainers

Sometimes I can't just drop things. I did some digging tonight and discovered that the name of the trainers with the chimpanzee act I recently blogged about-they are named the Rosaires.

A recent USDA inspection of their sanctuary in Florida yielded no violations, and here is a bit of an excerpt from an interview about a documentary made about them a couple of years ago.

The complete interview made be found here:

http://www.popsyndicate.com/site/story/qa_circus_rosaire

AFI Dallas: Robin Bliley Invites You to the Circus Rosaire

Q: What attracted you to their story?

A: When I was growing up, the circus was magical and enchanting and the Rosaires were superstars. Many years later as a young adult, I saw the Rosaires perform again and was shocked and saddened by how things had changed. The huge stadium arena, with the 3 ornate and spectacular circus rings where they had performed in their heyday, was now a dusty rodeo ring in a small Texas field with a handful of people more interested in their beer and hotdogs. I wondered how a family, who at one time performed for presidents and kings, found themselves struggling to survive. I knew in my core that this was a perfect backdrop for a great story. The kind of story I wanted to tell. One full of drama, laughter, struggle and pathos. To me, the Rosaires are not just circus performers, they are circus heroes, going through Herculean efforts in order to make show dates, taking immaculate care of their animals along the way, all in order to put a smile on a kid’s face in the audience and continue their family legacy. I feel that “Circus Rosaire” captures a small piece of American culture and history that is disappearing before our very eyes. The circus will never be the same after this current generation of circus performers has passed.


Q: How rare are the Rosaires? Are they the only animal handlers that treat their animals humanely?

A: Fortunately, in my experience, I have never seen animal handlers mistreat their animals, however I do think the Rosaires are incredibly unique. Their eternal devotion and sacrifice for their animals is a beautiful thing to see. Along with performing in circuses and shows around the country, the Rosaire family is dedicated to running their non-profit animal sanctuary in Sarasota, Florida. Many of the animals they perform with are animals they have rescued. They are passionate about animal welfare and adopting exotic animals in need of homes, health and love. There aren’t too many people I know who would put their animals needs before their own, and the Rosaires do that.

Response to Walker Brothers Circus Comment

My previous post was about the Walker Brother Circus. I had a response from an anonymous poster, always welcome if you dare...I also had responses from fellow bloggers, which I do not copy here, but Thanks T and Warren for your nice comments!

I will re-post anonymous' comment here and follow with my reply. It was so lengthy I decided to dedicate a new post to it.

"Walker Brothers Circus"
3 Comments -

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry, but why on earth would you think that performing animals care about applause? That's a human thing. Performing animals care about the fact that they are forced to stay in cages, trucked around from pillar to post. Chimps roam large areas in the wild and stay in close family units. These were probably brought here as babies and have lived terrifying and unnatural lives ever since. Give some thought to what went into teaching a chimp to ride on a pony, and how terrifying it must have been for both of them. It sounds like you started out having a compassionate response and talked yourself out of it. I hope that in future you will go with your first instinct. WIld animals do not belong in the circus.



To Anon,

Certainly all those points went through my head, about how the chimps should be free in the wild. I feel the same about elephants. The sad truth and reality is LOSS OF HABITAT. The chimps we saw wouldn't exist at all if not for the time and caring their owners have put into them. Every chimps act ended with a kiss and hug from the trainer, and it was reciprocated.

Now, as to applause, have you ever had a pet of any kind? I play ball and fetch with my dog every day, and if he makes a spectacular catch, I clap and cheer, and his step quickens and his tail wags. If something unexpected happens and I laugh inadvertently at his expense, his attitude changes.

For a performing animal to go in front of a disapproving crowd, to suggest that the animal cannot sense animosity being directed at its performance, is as unfeeling and ignorant as you seem to claim my response to be. They are there, sad, yes, but I am glad I could clap LOUDLY and say, "Good Job!"

At least once, the trainer looked me in the eye, and mouthed, "Thank YOU." If my simple act could help the trainer relax, if you are one who subscribes to the thought that animals do not have feelings, creating a positive human response from the trainer might then be passed on to a more positive emotional response to the trained animal. Thus improving the quality of life for that animal.

As far as the travel, using the dog analogy again, some dogs love to ride in cars. Some get car sick. Any good trainer would not subject an animal to the travel if they could not thrive in it.

If the chimp was terrified of the horse, no trainer alive could get it to ride. Same with the horse, although I think it would be worse for the horse. Yet horses are raced, rodeo'd, and been trained for centuries. They don't all run free in the mountains, and if they did, I am sure BLM would round them up and slam them in a pen awaiting adoption.

And what of the awareness that the presence of the wild animal creates to individuals? Some people might become more aware that chimp habitat needs protecting, and discuss it with others. Some of the children might never have a chance to see an elephant or chimp in person for their whole lives. This is Maine.

People dominate animals. That is a truth. Caring humans can only help but act to provide animals they come into contact with with a loving, caring, compassionate attitude, even if we eat them. Animal abuse is rampant. Dogs are bred for fighting, mass produced poultry is beaten, abused, and confined to filthy conditions before being sent to a horrifying filthy death.

We have branches of government that regulate an annual slaughter of wild animals of various types-some have an open season and are openly persecuted. Don't think it is kinder to let Bambi run free until it is dropped with a painless clean shot. Many animals escape wounded to die a lingering and infected death of starvation, unless one of the persecuted predators is still alive to take it out quickly and cleanly.

These performing chimps were probably better off than a chimp in a zoo. Get over it.