Written by PETA
Blogger Tonya Kay jumped through hoops to try to tell Cole Bros. Circus' "side of the story" in a two-part series posted on EcoHearth.com, but without much luck.
A journalist working with Kay was offered three invitations to visit the circus, observe the animals, and speak with circus management—all three of which were later rescinded by the circus, which was apparently unconvinced by his claim that he planned to write a "shining review." Apparently, the circus is unwilling to speak to any journalist who might be secretly harboring plans to write anything resembling an unbiased report, as opposed to a glowing fluff piece.
It's little wonder that Cole Bros. Circus didn't want to expose the less than "shining" aspects of its operation: that elephants are beaten with bullhooks and tigers are jammed into transport cages, where they spend most of their lives.
In the end, Kay concluded, "I can't write a positive story on the Cole Bros. Circus because there's nothing positive to report."
You can read Tonya Kay's complete story here. And to help get the word out to others about Cole Bros.' dirty secrets, contact PETA's Action Team for help organizing a protest.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
Elephant advocates are celebrating a new policy by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The policy requires that all AZA-accredited facilities prohibit staff and elephants from being in the same space, with some limited exceptions, by September 2014. This means that elephants in zoos will be protected from handlers (and the abusive instruments they wield) and vice versa.
There are two basic styles of managing captive elephants–‘protected contact’ and ‘free contact. With protected contact, there is always a barrier between handlers and elephants, which is not only more humane but also much safer for both species. In "free contact," the handler is always armed with a sharp, metal-tipped bullhook that they use at will to strike elephants, and elephants know what will happen when they see the bullhook coming. Although the new policy does not require full protected contact, as it has exceptions for things like required health and welfare procedures, it is a giant step in the right direction.
PETA has agitated for protected contact for more than a decade, back to the time when Sissy, an elephant at the El Paso Zoo, snapped under the pressure of captivity and attacked her handler. Allowing trainers armed with bullhooks to be in close proximity to captive elephants can go horribly wrong.
Over the past 20 years, captive elephants in the U.S. have killed 15 people and injured more than 135, often the result of rampages by elephants who have had one beating too many. No deaths and only one injury (from disregarded protocol) have occurred at zoos that use protected contact.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
It's official: The Carson & Barnes Circus puts people and animals at risk. Coming on the heels of three complaints that PETA filed about the circus's dangerous animal-handling methods, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cited the circus for handling elephants in a cruel and dangerous manner. In one instance, a handler answered his cell phone and walked away even though an adult and six children were riding on an elephant's back.
The inspector also noted that a handler with no elephant experience repeatedly used "excessive force while tugging at the elephant [Viola] with" a bullhook. The report also notes "many instances" in which elephants who were being used for rides were not under the direct control and supervision of a handler, creating a "risk of serious injury to members of the public." Carson & Barnes was cited for not having a sufficient distance and/or an appropriate barrier between the elephants and members of the public, making it possible for a spectator to grab an elephant's trunk.
Please never buy a ticket to any circus that uses animals. And if you've already made the mistake of buying a ticket to the Carson & Barnes Circus, you may be entitled to a refund.
PETA is calling on authorities to take action in the wake of a vicious beating of an elephant traveling with the Cole Bros. Circus. Last week in Lanesboro, Massachusetts, a citizen took video footage and gave an eyewitness account of the beating of an elephant, who was repeatedly hit with a bullhook.
The handler yelled at the elephants to "move up" and "back up" while striking a docile elephant in the face with a bullhook with an audible "whack." He took a step back and swung the bullhook like a baseball bat, striking the elephant twice on her face and shouting, "Back up!" while she tried to do just that. Still yelling, the handler chased the elephant as she hurried over to some other elephants who were standing nearby.
Says the witness, "This was not an 'attention getter', this worker reared back and swung the club with all his might, twice. You could hear the whack as the club struck the elephant. My son and I were shocked. I do not think the worker realized we were there."
This outrage is business as usual for the circus: We've filed three complaints against Cole Bros. Circus about aggressive bullhook use and other abuses in the past six weeks, and each has been accompanied with authenticated video and/or photographs. PETA is calling for local humane authorities to assess the elephant's condition, and we've offered to pay for independent experts to examine her.
Please join us in also asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have a veterinarian with expertise in elephants immediately inspect the elephants with Cole Bros. and to take all appropriate enforcement action.
Zina and Jewel, two aging elephants who have spent nearly their entire lives with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (Jewel since 1954 and Zina since 1972), have been "donated" by the circus to the Little Rock Zoo. Some "retirement": The Little Rock Zoo still uses the cruel and archaic free-contact system to control elephants, which means that Zina and Jewel have not escaped the bullhooks and chains.
In testimony during a trial to answer charges that Ringling's elephant handling practices violated the federal Endangered Species Act, the circus's general manager admitted Zina and Jewel (and five other elephants) were all chained by two legs in a concrete barn at Ringling's Florida breeding and "retirement" center for 16 hours a day. Another witness testified that he had to cover more than 20 oozing wounds with Wonder Dust (a gray powder used to camouflage wounds) after Zina was beaten with a bullhook.
Considering the long hours spent chained on hard concrete floors, it's no wonder that Jewel is suffering from severe arthritis. Many of the elephants used by Ringling have joint problems, like Sara, who is far younger than Jewel but already suffering from painful lameness, which will likely lead to arthritis as she ages.
Ringling raked in millions of dollars over the decades that it hauled these elephants around the country, but instead of retiring them to a sanctuary, the circus "rewarded" them by dumping them at a zoo for more years of exploitation.
Please never buy a ticket to the circus, and ask the Little Rock Zoo to stop using bullhooks and chains on elephants.
Tennessee officials agreed with PETA that the Knoxville Zoo should be penalized for allowing handlers to come into direct contact with elephants and has recommended $8,400 in fines in connection with the death of a handler earlier this year.
Since the attack, the zoo has switched to a safer and more humane method of managing captive elephants called "protected contact," in which barriers always separate elephants and handlers. Elephants handled through protected contact are never beaten with bullhooks.
It's time for all zoos to move to protected contact, before another elephant who has suffered one beating too many lashes out against the person holding the bullhook. If you live near a zoo that is still using pain, fear, and force to control elephants, such as the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.; Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida; and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in California, contact our Action Team for help with launching a campaign to put an end to it.
Sweet Georgia Brown! Or should I say, "Sweet Fulton County Board of Commissioners"? Earlier today, following pressure from PETA, concerned members of the community, and celebrities like Demi Moore, the board approved a ban on the use of bullhooks—batons with a sharp metal hook on the end that are used to hit captive elephants in order to keep them fearful and obedient.
Because elephants traveling to Fulton County can't be jabbed or beaten with these ugly devices, circuses like Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and other traveling shows will have to leave them behind.
If you're as happy about this as we are, please send a note of appreciation to the Board and commend it for its compassionate decision.
Interested in campaigning for a similar ban in your area? Contact our Action Team at ATeam@peta.org to get started.
Demi Moore is making a decent proposal to the Fulton County, Georgia, Board of Commissioners. The actor is urging boardmembers to vote in favor of a proposed ban on bullhooks tomorrow. In her letter, Moore explained how elephants used in circuses are beaten bloody with the sharp instruments to force them to perform tricks that are unnatural and meaningless to the animals.
Today, elephant sanctuaries and most zoos―including Zoo Atlanta―never use bullhooks or other weapon-like tools to punish elephants ... I hope you will extend that inherent decency to elephants used in circuses. I urge you to ban bullhooks. The elephants deserve our kindness, respect, and protection.
Join Demi Moore in showing the Fulton County Commissioners that there is widespread disgust over cruel bullhooks.
One zoo employee has been killed and another maimed in incidents at two separate zoos on the same day. At Riverside Discovery Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, a chimpanzee bit a worker on the hand, severing two of her fingers and injuring a third. At the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee, elephant handler Stephanie James died from injuries she sustained when an elephant crushed her against a wall.
These incidents illustrate the very real dangers posed by captive exotic animals—and why laws like those recently passed in Ohio and Oregon that ban exotic “pets” are so desperately needed. Attacks like the one on Ms. James are part of the reason why we're encouraging all zoos to switch to a protected-contact system of handling—and we're even offering to cover part of the costs.
In protected contact, which is already being used by more than half the accredited zoos in the country, a safety barrier is kept between elephants and handlers at all times. This eliminates the "need" to establish dominance over elephants through beatings with bullhooks and other forceful control methods. The Knoxville Zoo has temporarily implemented protected contact since the trainer's death and is re-evaluating its elephant-handling program.
Tokio Hotel has no reservations about speaking out against animal abuse in circuses. Just check out PETA Germany's edgy new "Stop Circus Cruelty" ad featuring Bill and Tom Kaulitz, the talented vegetarian twins behind this überpopular German rock band:
Ah, what wunderbar boys! That's German for "wonderful." Now here's the part where you can do something wunderbar for elephants who are beaten with metal-tipped bullhooks and tigers who are forced to tremble before trainers with whips. Please watch and share our undercover Ringling investigation and then take action to help ailing elephants. Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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