When he learned that Topsy, an elephant used by Piccadilly Circus, tested positive in two tuberculosis (TB) screening tests, Maine's state veterinarian, Don Hoenig, barred the circus from taking her into the state. Since Piccadilly didn't want its other elephant, Annette, to perform without Topsy, neither elephant will be forced to perform in Maine.

Elephants such as this one are in danger of suffering the same fate as Topsy

Hoenig is adhering to the 2012 Guidelines for the Control of Tuberculosis in Elephants recommended by the United States Animal Health Association (USAHA), which aims to prevent, control, and eliminate disease. The USAHA recommends that elephants who test positive for TB should be restricted from all travel or public contact for a year since the disease is highly transmissible to humans, even without direct contact. PETA has repeatedly urged state and local health departments to protect the public when circuses are in town by prohibiting the exhibition of elephants who have reactive TB screening tests.

Elephants used by circuses have a heightened risk of developing active TB infections because their health is compromised by the constant stress of traveling inside filthy, poorly ventilated boxcars. They are also chained for up to 100 hours at a time and forced to perform unnatural and sometimes painful tricks. Multiple elephants used by Ringling Bros. and George Carden Circus have tested positive in TB screening tests but are still being forced to travel and perform.

Because of the fragile health of TB-positive elephants and the risk to the public, PETA has repeatedly asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to make adherence to the USAHA guidelines a national requirement. The USDA even announced its intention to do so, but it has yet to act.

Please e-mail the USDA and ask it to protect elephants and the public from circus owners who sacrifice safety for profit.

Whips, cuffs, collars, bondage, and beatings: E.L. James' best-selling novel reads like a circus trainer's handbook. But unlike the consenting couple in the book, elephants in circuses don't have a choice when it comes to being dominated. And if beating elephants into submission and forcing them to perform painful acts isn't 50 shades of wrong, then my safe word's not "PETA."

So as soon as your partner unties you, please sign this "contract" to help stop circus cruelty. 

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.