Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- If Minneapolis doesn't want elephant rides, then maybe the circus doesn't want Minneapolis, a circus official said. The Minneapolis City Council was expected to take up a proposed ordinance that would allow circuses to include elephants but put an end to the practice of children riding or touching them, the Star Tribune reported Wednesday. Advertisement "We'll seriously consider leaving the city if we can't do elephant rides," Tim Davison, the Minneapolis Shriners' assistant circus chairman, told the Minneapolis newspaper. "That's the effect of having a ban without actually having a ban." The annual fall circus is a fundraising enterprise for the Shriners and the elephant rides have been a key moneymaker, Davison said. Council Member Ralph Remington sought a ban of all wild animal circuses nearly a year ago in response to complaints from animal rights activists. Albuquerque already has such a ban. Council Members Paul Ostrow and Betsy Hodges countered with the proposed ride ban as a compromise.
