You might recall that last fall, PETA convinced Simon Property Group, the largest real estate company in the country, to ban exotic-animal exhibits at all its properties. At one mall that Simon owns in Winchester, Virginia, Cole Bros. Circus makes an annual appearance during the city's Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, which means that Cole Bros. would have to skip this city altogether or use only human performers in its show—no animals whatsoever.

Marion Doss|cc by 2.0

To our surprise, that is just what the circus is doing! The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival announced that Cole Bros. had created "a new-concept circus in 2012 entitled 'Circus of the Stars' that they feel will be just as dazzling and just as amazing as previous circuses." I'm of the opinion that seeing a circus replete with daring and funny human performers would be considerably more exciting than watching frightened, abused animals forced to do silly tricks.

Cole Bros. has a long history of repeatedly violating the Animal Welfare Act and recently incurred a $15,000 fine after PETA filed two complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding the physical safety and psychological well-being of two of its elephants. It was also forced to pay $150,000 for illegally selling endangered elephants to someone wholly unable to provide them with proper care, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. 

But this humans-only circus is a great start toward making Cole Bros.' abuse of animals a thing of the past, and PETA will continue working to have venues host only the circus's animal-free performances.

The next time you hit a mall owned by Simon Property Group, you'll probably find plenty of shoes, sweaters, and giant pretzels—but what you won't find are whips and chains. That's because after meeting with PETA and hearing from countless concerned shoppers who responded to our action alert, Simon—the largest real estate company in the country—has banned all exotic-animal exhibits at all of its properties. For enacting this lifesaving policy, Simon has been given a PETA Proggy Award ("proggy" stands for "progress") for Best Animal-Friendly Real Estate Company. 

If you've been to a local mall, chances are pretty good that it's a Simon property, since the S&P 500 corporation owns more malls in the U.S. than any other company. Simon's new policy means that exhibitors such as Carson & Barnes that haul elephants and tigers around in trucks from one parking lot to the next will have to set up shop elsewhere—or, hopefully, nowhere. Expanding on the company's compassion footprint, earlier this year, Simon demanded that the Iditarod remove its name as a sponsor of the deadly race.

Please thank CEO David Simon for making the right decision and let him know that you'll be sure to shop at Simon malls.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor