California prepares for elephant cruelty trial

California's law prohibiting elephant abuse is to be tested for the first time after a judge ordered a full trial into the case of Asia, an 8ft Asian elephant weighing 8,000lb.

Prosecutors allege that Mark Gebel, a trainer with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, drew blood when he hit a 33-year-old elephant named Asia in San Jose last summer with a metal pole three feet long.

Defending the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a $1,000 fine, Mr Gebel told the judge, Linda Condron, that it was no more than a pinprick and washed off immediately.