article_snippet: Executives from Feld Entertainment, Ringling's parent company, said the decision was difficult and debated at length as elephants have often been featured on Ringling's posters over the decades. '
article_snippet: Ringling's elephants have been at the center of lawsuits and ongoing complaints from animal rights activists.
article_snippet: In 2014, Feld Entertainment won $25.2 million in settlements from a number of animal-rights groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, ending a 14-year legal battle over unproven allegations that Ringling circus employees mistreated elephants.
article_snippet: The initial lawsuit was filed in 2000 by a former Ringling barn helper who was later found to have been paid at least $190,000 by the animal-rights groups that helped bring The initial lawsuit.
article_snippet: The judge called a former Ringling barn helper who was later found to have been paid at least $190,000 by the animal-rights groups that helped bring the lawsuit 'essentially a paid plaintiff' who lacked credibility and standing to sue.