ATLANTA (AP) - A Fulton County judge has temporarily blocked the county's ban of the use of bullhooks by elephant trainers days before the circus comes to town.

Commissioner Rob Pitts told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (http://bit.ly/zYqOQ6) that Judge John Goger's order effectively halts the county from enforcing the ban.

The decision comes days before the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes to Philips Arena in Atlanta. The show begins Wednesday and runs to Feb. 20.

Pitts said he worried the judge's order could extend to other animal control measures.

Fulton County was the first Georgia jurisdiction to approve a bullhook ban when lawmakers passed the ban in June.

The circus' operators could not be reached for comment on the decision.