A US federal judge has rejected animal rights groups' claims that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus mishandles endangered Asian elephants. US District Judge Emmet Sullivan signed the December 30 ruling in favor of Ringling's owner, Virginia-based Feld Entertainment Inc. (FEI) at the outset of a nine-year-old suit brought by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) that culminated in a six-week trial in March. The ASPCA, Born Free USA (Animal Protection Institute), Animal Welfare Institute, Fund for Animals along with former Ringling animal trainer Tom Rider had accused the circus of shackling, confining and striking elephants with bullhooks, which have a sharp steel hook at one end. Sullivan dismissed the star witness's testimony, saying Rider lied about receiving payments from animal activists and about his personal attachment to the giant animals. 'The court finds that Mr Rider is essentially a paid plaintiff and fact witness who is not credible, and therefore affords no weight to his testimony,' Sullivan wrote in his ruling. 'Mr Rider's self-serving testimony at trial about his personal and emotional attachment to these elephants also is not credible because he did not begin to make complaints about how FEI treated its elephants until after he began accepting money from animal activists.' Feld's attorney for the case, Michelle Pardo of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, greeted the ruling as 'a victory for the elephants and a win for the US Constitution because it reinforces that the federal court is no place to entertain a philosophical debate about whether elephants should be in the circus.' But the Animal Welfare Institute vowed to continue its nearly decade-long fight to protect the elephants from abuse, blasting the judge for not acknowledging 'an overwhelming amount of evidence presented at trial.' 'While we are disappointed that the judge did not address the merits of this case, the public now knows that Ringling Bros.' Asian elephants are systematically abused on a daily basis,' said Animal Welfare Institute general counsel Tracy Silverman. 'We will continue to work through other channels in our efforts to ensure that these endangered animals are protected.' Some 35,000 Asian elephants still exist, down from 200,000 in 1900. Founded by seven brothers in 1871, Ringling Bros. has built much of its success on its trained elephants. In 1995, it established the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida, which the circus calls 'the largest Asian elephant population in the Western Hemisphere.' 