A Tiger Among the Jungle

Book excerpt: While working undercover, Steven Kendall has had many roles to play. His job entailed gathering evidence to prosecute animal and environmental activists involved in domestic terrorism, educating the public, and dealing with the media. Kendall refers to the role of the circus as ''Edutainment.'' The role he played for Ringling Bros. Circus (Feld Entertainment) was to offset the propaganda aimed at the circus industry by animal activists. He worked as a consultant to Feld Entertainment and wrote thousands of reports dealing with animal activists and environmental groups. Many of the reports Kendall wrote were used by the CIA. He organized counter demonstrations nationwide under the umbrella group ''Putting People First.'' Feld Entertainment was able to utilize this group to offset the animal activist protestors. Steven Kendall did numerous TV shows and news segments around the world. Everywhere the circus went so did Steven Kendall. The book deals with the life of a undercover private investigator who organized an operation with the financial backing of Feld Entertainment. Activist groups were shocked to learn they had been infiltrated by the circus industry. PeTA currently has a federal case in Virginia against Feld Entertainment. Any group opposed to PeTA and other animal activist groups poses a threat to them. In the book, Kendall stated there were times of frustration because of the lack of cooperation among government agencies, which included the USDA, FBI and CIA.