http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/people/pinks-plea-to-president-20110401-1co9f.html

Pink's plea to president
April 1, 2011 - 12:27PM

Pregnant pop star Pink has written a letter to US President Barack Obama
urging him to enforce new animal protection laws.

The longtime animal rights activist, who famously attacked former leader
George W Bush in her Dear Mr President song, has now written a Dear Mr
President letter to Obama on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals.

The singer is asking him to direct the US Department of Agriculture to
re-open and prosecute three cases of egregious cruelty by the Ringling
Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

According to PETA, the USDA told then-Senator Obama in 2006 that it would
"pursue appropriate enforcement action" after learning of the deaths of a
young lion and a baby elephant.

The cases and another surrounding the videotaped beating of a different
elephant were closed with no action taken.

In her letter to Obama, outraged Pink writes, "In 2006, you made an
inquiry to the USDA, on behalf of your constituents, regarding the status
of three cases of egregious cruelty by Feld Entertainment (Ringling Bros.
and Barnum & Bailey Circus). At that time, you were assured that the USDA
would "pursue appropriate enforcement action" in all three cases.

"However, the USDA's Office of the General Counsel has yet to take
enforcement action of any kind, and evidence of Ringling's cover-ups,
interference with investigations, and tampering with evidence are
contained in the USDA's own records and in sworn testimony. "The USDA's
Office of the General Counsel must be held accountable in the performance
of its duties and the promise that animal protection will be secured under
the law."

She goes on to list the cases of a two-year-old lion called Clyde, who was
left to bake to death "in a boxcar as the circus travelled through the
Mojave Desert on a scorching July day when temperatures exceeded 100
degrees (Fahrenheit)", and baby elephant Riccardo, who had to be euthanised
when a "violent training session in which workers used ropes and bullhooks
to force him to stand on a circus pedestal" went awry.