Piccadilly Circus Trainer Loves the Animals, Denies Abuse, Neglect

One thing is clear when you talk with Ian Garden about his work: He is passionate about it.

That passion extends to his partners, as well. Garden is the animal trainer for Florida-based , which has set up shop at the in St. Charles and began .

Garden was a bit harried but still very cordial on Tuesday afternoon when a reporter stopped by unannounced with hopes of an interview. His cell phone rang. “Pardon me for just five minutes — I have to take this,” Garden said. Minutes later, he puts the cell phone away and relaxes a bit, smiles and shrugs apologetically. “I’m sorry, I’m waiting for a repairman.”

In terms of a work week, some might consider this his weekend. Yet circus crews are busy seven days a week, and Garden is no exception, although he doesn’t seem to mind.

“Horse trainer is probably my No. 1 thing,” he said. “I’ve worked liberty acts with horses for 30 years, and this is the first year I’ve ever worked with camels, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.”

Garden said he comes from a family of animal trainers — he’s the third or fourth generation of his family in this line of work.

Walking toward the circus’s menagerie tent, Garden reflects on his career. “You tend to do everything in this business,” he said. “If you’re in the animal industry, I’ve worked with tigers, I’ve worked with elephants, I’ve worked with horses, I’ve worked with dog acts — now camels and zebras.”

As we draw near, the camels see Garden and immediately begin moving toward the edge of their pen, visibly eager to see him.

“Hey, Joe! Hey, handsome,” he calls affectionately to one of the camels, apparently a favorite. The six camels are dromedaries, which have just one hump. There are none of the larger Bactrian camels, which have two.

Garden explains with pride how both the camels and the two zebras nearby perform separate “liberty acts,” meaning they are completely unrestrained during performances. “They come in single file, then we bring them in in twos; they waltz,” he said of the camels. “Then three go one way, three go the other way and bring it back into a full wheel … we call it a pinwheel, and they all go down — they cush, all six of them.”

As Garden speaks, the camels nuzzle him with their noses. Their affection for him is evident. It’s also clear that he has no treats squirreled away in a pocket somewhere.

Likewise, the zebras welcome him as he enters their pen. Related to horses, the African animals are notoriously difficult to work with, he said. In fact, many animal-training experts consider zebras too aggressive to train. Yet, as Garden enters their pen, one turns toward him and pushes its nose against his sternum, and he playfully hugs the animal.

Circus Animals Cared for Well

Circuses have a storied tradition of animal acts, and Piccadilly is no exception. Garden talks with pride about the zebra and camel acts — and about Oka, the circus’s Asian elephant who walks on a large ball.

But in recent years, the circus tradition has drawn increasing criticism from animal rights and animal protection groups that claim the animals are beaten, shocked with electronic prods and mistreated with other instruments that can injure the animals. Garden vigorously denies the Piccadilly Circus animals are abused or neglected.

He points to the camels, the zebras, and waves his arm toward the other animals further inside the menagerie tent. “First of all, any signs of abuse you’d be able to see firsthand, and you’re standing right here next to them,” Garden said. He further points out that the animals are inspected regularly as part of their licensing, including by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“I’ve got six grown camels that are (held) in by nothing more than a single strand of hot wire,” he said. That’s a single strand of electrified wire also used on farms to pen in livestock. The wire is not strong enough to keep an animal confined, nor is the electrical charge in the wire enough to stop an animal.

He cites this as an indication that the animals themselves are happy with their care — that they would leave if they were abused or neglected.

“My guys, we start at 7 a.m.,” Garden said. “Nobody has a coffee, a crumb of bread — anything — until these guys are fed, watered and cleaned.”

The animals are treated well, he said. He noted some people claim the circus animals are penned up in tight quarters or hauled on trucks for days at a time, but that’s simply not true.

“We spend almost a week in every location,” he said. “Our trips are never more than a couple of hours. And when we get in at night, there are temporary pens put up, they’re unloaded, there’s water, there’s food.

“We live and breathe these animals on a daily basis,” he said. “I can’t think of getting up and not seeing them.

“You know, losing one of these guys is almost losing one of your children,” he said.