The week isn't going so well for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The company had been benefiting from online promotions through Travelzoo, a site that offers discounts and deals on travel and entertainment. But that was before PETA and its supporters stepped in.

iStockphoto.com/nickfallows

PETA sent Travelzoo information about Ringling's long history of animal abuse. We detailed how Ringling was handed the largest fine in circus history—$270,000—by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for dozens of violations of the Animal Welfare Act. We revealed how former circus employees admitted that Ringling trainers routinely beat elephants and jabbed them with sharp metal bullhooks in order to force them to perform.

We are pleased that Travelzoo listened and made the compassionate decision to stop offering Ringling ticket deals. Travelzoo joins Lucky Brand, Denny's, Lukoil, MasterCard, Visa, and Sears, all of which have terminated Ringling sponsorships and promotions. Let's keep going after Ringling until its trainers stop going after animals. Ask the USDA to seize the ailing elephants used by Ringling and transfer them to a reputable sanctuary.

At PETA, we know that some rules (such as being quiet in meetings) are meant to be broken, but anti-cruelty laws should never be ignored. That's why when we heard that Ringling Bros. was going to Columbus, Ohio, and taking elephants and abusive bullhooks with it, we wrote to the mayor asking him to enforce a law that bans electric and other prods and similar devices from being used on animals in circuses. And what do you think Mayor Michael B. Coleman said in response? Not a peep.

So we showed up outside City Hall—bullhooks in hand—with signs reading, "Mayor Coleman: Enforce Anti-Cruelty Laws" and "Beating Elephants Is a Crime."

After seeing the bullhooks in person—with their sharp steel hooks designed to dig into elephants' flesh in the most sensitive areas (such as the soft flesh behind the ears and inside the ear and mouth)—here's hoping Mayor Coleman straightens up and enforces the law.

Want to join us when PETA comes to your town to help animals? Join our Action Team!

Now here's some real appointment television: On Earth Day—Monday, April 22—at 7 p.m. EDT (check your local listings for the time in your region), HBO will premiere the documentary An Apology to Elephants. Watch a preview here. 

Getting the Word Out—and the Story Straight

In his review, David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle says that Apology, narrated by Lily Tomlin, is "impossible to ignore because of the irrefutable arguments made by its savvy combination of testimony from animal experts and images of elephants being abused."

Since HBO began working on this project more than two years ago, PETA has been on board offering information and documentation. The documentary features pictures and video footage provided by PETA, including photos from a whistleblower that document the shockingly cruel way in which Ringling Bros. circus breaks the spirit of baby elephants and video footage from a Ringling elephant walk showing bullhook abuse. Viewers will see elephants Maggie—who suffered alone for years at the Alaska Zoo before being sent to a sanctuary following a lengthy PETA campaign—and Nosey, in whose behalf PETA has been working for years.

Among the experts who participated in the documentary are Dr. Mel Richardson and Dr. Joyce Poole. Also appearing is passionate young animal advocate Rose McCoy, who once schooled McDonald's execs over their failure to reduce the suffering of chickens.

How You Can Help

Besides watching An Apology to Elephants yourself, encourage others to tune in, too—and tell them never to buy a ticket to any circus that uses animals. 

Police are investigating the shooting of an elephant used by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The incident reportedly occurred outside the Bancorp South Arena in Tupelo, Mississippi, early on the morning of April 9. Knowing Ringling's shady history when it comes to animals (some years ago, a trainer traveling with Ringling shot a tiger to death while the animal was locked in his cage), PETA is urging authorities to interview all circus employees carefully. Also, as usual, it appears that no veterinarian was on the road with the circus despite a history of animal illnesses and injuries. So with only the self-interested circus's word to rely on, who knows if the elephant is receiving proper care? PETA has increased the reward for information leading to a conviction in the attack.

iStockphoto.com/dickysingh

Pursuing Justice for Endangered Elephants

Numerous Ringling workers have histories of animal abuse, which is why PETA is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and local law enforcement to look particularly closely at the circus's employees—some of whom have been caught on film beating elephants with sharp, heavy bullhooks and some of whom are the subjects of recent sworn eyewitness complaints about animal abuse—when seeking the culprit or culprits in this incident.

To help authorities find the person or persons responsible for this horrendous act, PETA will be adding up to $5,000 to the $250 reward offered by former 1st Congressional District Rep. Travis Childers. Because shooting an Asian elephant is a violation of the federal Endangered Species Act, the FWS is also offering a $5,000 reward.

PETA is also asking the USDA to inspect the injured elephant and ensure that she is receiving adequate treatment. Ringling has a long record of failing to provide elephants used in its shows with adequate veterinary care. The circus commonly travels without a veterinarian—despite the large number of animals it carts all over the U.S.—and the veterinarians it does have often sign off on allowing ailing elephants to perform painful tricks.

What You Can Do

Even without the threat of being shot, Ringling's elephants must regularly endure violence and distress. Please urge the USDA to confiscate all the ailing animals from Ringling for placement with reputable sanctuaries. Never, ever patronize circuses that use animals, and tell others to avoid them as well. 

Because of the throngs of people who had gathered outside to protest, it was hard to spot those who were trickling into Brooklyn's Barclays Center on Ringling Bros. circus's opening night. More than 200 animal advocates came together to make sure that Ringling's reception was chillier than a New York winter.

While half the group circled the block, hoisting signs and chanting, the other half flanked the crosswalks and handed leaflets and educational coloring books to parents and children.

If any of the attendees weren't aware of how Ringling abuses animals, they certainly were after they saw the behind-the-scenes photos of trainers slamming baby elephants to the ground, gouging them with steel-tipped bullhooks, and shocking them with electric prods. And if that didn't do the trick, the screening of PETA's video exposé narrated by Alec Baldwin, which showed trainers beating and tormenting elephants, moments before a performance likely did.

Many of the advocates plan to return to the Barclays Center every night that the circus is in town to make sure that everyone in the Big Apple gets the message about cruelty under the big top.

Circuses are running into more and more places where they can't force elephants and other exotic animals to perform, as localities ban the use of bullhooks—sharp metal weapons that resemble fireplace pokers—and other cruel devices. Trainers use them to beat, hook, and gouge elephants on the most sensitive parts of their bodies, like behind their ears and knees. In Florida alone, Pompano Beach, Clearwater, Hollywood, and Margate have already enacted bans, and now we can add Hallandale Beach to the list of dozens of compassionate communities across the country that are saying, "Not on our watch."

Thanks in part to the help and hard work of local group Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF), the City Commission of Hallandale Beach, just north of Miami, voted to ban circuses and rodeos from using bullhooks, whips, and other cruel devices to beat animals. Since threatening elephants, tigers, and other animals by showing them a bullhook or whip is the only way that circus trainers can make them stand on their heads, jump through rings of fire, or perform other frightening, confusing tricks, circuses will have to leave exotic animals out of their acts if they want to entertain in Hallandale Beach. 

PETA is sending the Hallandale Beach city commissioners a box  of vegan chocolates to thank them for being elefriends. 

Los Angeles is also considering a bullhook ban. Let the City Council know that you (and elephants) would love to see Los Angeles become known as the City of Angels to Animals by passing the ban.

Los Angeles has been on a roll lately (ever since PETA's new Bob Barker Building opened there—coincidence?). First, the city banned pet stores from selling puppies, kittens, and rabbits from breeders, and then it became the first major city to embrace and endorse Meatless Monday. Now, the City of Angels is considering a ban on cruel elephant acts.

Here's what's going on: The City Council's Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee proposed a measure that would ban circuses and other traveling exhibits in L.A. from forcing elephants to perform. 

If the council passes the measure, Ringling Bros. and other circuses that abuse elephants will no longer be allowed to haul them to Los Angeles in cramped, stifling boxcars or trucks in which they're kept chained for up to 100 hours at a time. These circuses will no longer be allowed to drag elephants into an L.A. arena and force them to stand on their heads or balance on balls, with the ever-present bullhook looming threateningly nearby. In L.A., they would no longer be able to deprive elephants of the right to be elephants.

Ringling Bros. is already blasting the measure with both barrels, so the L.A. City Council needs to hear from every single person who has elephants' welfare at heart. Please write—even one line—to the council and encourage it to support the ban on cruel elephant acts. Get everyone you know to do the same so that L.A. can continue to serve as a role model for cities across the country.

Following multiple investigation requests from PETA, the Chicago Inspector General (IG) launched a probe of the city's regulation of circuses and other animal exhibitors. Now, the IG has released its report, with recommended changes to licensing and permitting procedures.

Behind-the-Scenes Scandal at Ringling

Public records about Chicago's inspections of the notoriously inhumane Ringling Bros. circus in November 2010 documented numerous untreated medical conditions that appeared to clearly violate state and local animal protection laws. So in December 2010, PETA filed an investigation request asking that the IG determine why, in the face of compelling evidence of cruelty and neglect, the City of Chicago did nothing to provide relief to suffering animals or to hold Ringling responsible for its actions.

As detailed in PETA's request, several issues were noted during the 2010 inspection:

• Renowned elephant expert Margaret Whittaker—a former zookeeper and elephant manager with more than 20 years of experience managing, training, and caring for elephants—noted that the feet of the elephant Nichole "have significant issues" that hadn't been properly treated. Foot problems are the leading reason why captive elephants are euthanized, and in PETA's view the failure to adequately address this serious medical issue clearly violates both state and local laws
• Whittaker also observed that Nichole's overall condition was "shocking. She appears uncomfortable and has many physical conditions that would support this assumption. Her swollen front legs and overall foot health are of grave concern."
• Whittaker remarked that another elephant, Karen, had "a serious abscess that should be treated" on a toenail, a likely "degenerative" foot condition that "will worsen over time and eventually cause her more serious foot problems," and a tooth that "is migrating to the center of her mouth" and may "have devastating results," leaving her unable to "properly process food."
• Whittaker expressed particular concern about Sara, a young elephant already suffering from "a myriad of problems, both physical and psychological." Sara's feet, she asserted, "are in need of care," and her "front leg was stiff and when asked to lift her front right foot, she could not lift it normally or fully which suggests it is either painful to do this move or she has some permanent damage to the leg that prevents her from moving it normally." Whittaker concluded that Sara's "conspicuous foot and leg problems that are likely painful lead me to the conclusion that this elephant experiences periods of distress."
• Chicago Animal Care and Control (ACC) veterinarian Dr. Audrey Keller found that "[p]er Ringling veterinary staff, no medication was currently being administered to any elephant"—despite the fact that multiple elephants presented foot problems and stiffness. According to Dr. Keller's report, "Medical care has not been appropriately addressed to cover issues such as draining tracts from toe nail abscesses."

Despite this unequivocal information, no action was taken, and these elephants were forced to perform 20 times during Ringling's Chicago stand. In November 2011, PETA followed up with the IG's office to renew its request for an investigation.

Now, just before Ringling's 2012 Chicago appearances, scheduled for November 4 to 25, the IG has issued a report calling for changes in the way that the city handles circuses and other animal exhibitors, recommending the following:

• The city should "require significantly more information" with permit applications, including veterinary records.
• ACC should exercise its recently codified authority to make known "rules and regulations regarding the specific requirements necessary to approve or deny a license or permit application," noting that ACC has "significant discretion in this area." ACC has responded that it is working toward this goal.
• ACC should "provide additional training for its inspectors, or work with outside specialists, to ensure that all ACC inspections are conducted competently," noting that, "[c]urrently, not all inspections are performed by those who are trained in identifying issues specific to the animals included in a given exhibit." In response, ACC has "pledged to seek additional training for inspectors and veterinarians to identify issues specific to exotic animals included in Chicago exhibits."

The report also notes that under a new ordinance, the executive director of ACC has "additional discretion to work with a permittee to correct any violations or to issue fines or impose summary closure upon a finding of imminent hazard to the health of the animals."

PETA will be following up with the city, particularly in light of the fact that Nichole, Karen, and Sara are all scheduled to appear in Chicago again over the next few weeks and a recent independent expert's inspection report reveals that these animals' health still remains of significant concern.

What You Can Do

Please take a minute of your time to help spare Karen, Nicole, and Sara from additional suffering by politely urging Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack to stop folding to pressure from Ringling and to immediately seize these ailing elephants before it's too late—foot disorders and arthritis are the leading reasons for euthanasia in captive elephants.

PETA has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) after someone in the audience sent us this video showing a handler with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' Red Unit hooking and striking an elephant named Luna—who has a history of leg problems—with a bullhook (a weapon used by the circus that resembles a fireplace poker):

Exotic-animal veterinarian Dr. Mel Richardson, observing that Luna was stiff in one of her legs—a sign of painful arthritis, one of the leading reasons why captive elephants are euthanized—determined that Luna was most likely not feeling well and didn't want to perform the trick, which required her to rear up on her hind legs. But the callous trainer continued to hook her in order to force her to perform—actions that Dr. Richardson described as "abusive."

Luna responds to this abuse by cowering.

And this is just what Ringling trainers do in front of the audience. Behind the scenes, they are fond of what they refer to as "tune-ups": screaming at and beating elephants as soon as the show is over as punishment for the animals' failure to do exactly what they were told to do.

We turned this new video evidence over to the USDA and filed a complaint, citing yet more violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) by Ringling, which holds the record for the most complaints. We are urging the USDA to investigate all the Red Unit elephants for bullhook wounds and to examine Luna for signs of illness and injury that would preclude her, by law, from performing. How much longer will these vulnerable elephants be forced to endure this abuse?

This abuse is par for the course for Ringling, which has already paid the largest fine in circus history for dozens of violations of the AWA.

Please contact the USDA and ask the agency, on the heels of yet another video showing that Ringling trainers beat elephants, to revoke Ringling's animal exhibitor license and pursue criminal charges against its trainers.

The following was originally posted on September 25, 2012. 

Update: Because of a change in the council's agenda, a vote was not held on the 25th. Please keep watching The PETA Files for further details, and visit RinglingBeatsAnimals.com to learn about more ways to put a stop to circus cruelty.

This is exciting: Today, the City of Anaheim will consider banning the use of exotic animals in traveling exhibitions—including circuses! Ringling Bros. includes Anaheim in its annual California tour. Imposing an exotic-animal ban would reinforce PETA's intensive efforts to stop Ringling from abusing elephants and other animals.

Anaheim is where one of Ringling's elephants, Sarah, collapsed in 2011 after Ringling forced her to continue performing despite a chronic infection. If passed, the ban will ensure that she—and all the elephants used by Ringling—will never again be subjected to further cruelty in that city.

Currently, Anaheim has a ban on keeping exotic animals, but the proposed ordinance, introduced by Council Member Lorri Galloway, would remove an existing exemption for circuses and other traveling acts. Anaheim would join Ontario, Canada, in the growing list of North American jurisdictions that are currently considering bans on the use of bullhooks, elephants, or all exotic animals in circuses.

What You Can Do

If you live in the Anaheim area, please join the concerned citizens who will be meeting at City Hall to speak in favor of the ban during the City Council's 5 p.m. meeting.

Wherever you reside, learn how you can help PETA put an end to Ringling's cruelty.