Animal welfare groups to pay Ringling Bros. $16M, settling long-running elephant cruelty dispute

WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- Litigation that began with charges the biggest U.S. circus was abusing elephants has ended with animal welfare groups agreeing to pay $16 million in damages.

Lawyers for Feld Entertainment Inc., which owns Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, told the Wall Street Journal the settlement, along with $9 million received earlier, will just about cover the company's legal expenses. The money is coming from the Humane Society and other groups.

Animal welfare activists sued Feld in 2000 under the Endangered Species Act. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2009, saying the groups did not have standing to pursue their claim, and found that they paid a Ringling employee to be a plaintiff.

Feld filed a countersuit charging the groups with racketeering. Lawyers for the defendants said it was "prudent for the parties to settle because this court would never address the core claims of elephant abuse and there would be significant cost in continuing to litigate."

The ASPCA had earlier agreed to pay more than $9 million. The Humane Society was not a party to the original litigation, but became involved when it affiliated with the Fund for Animals in 2005.