Written by PETA
It's happened again. After forking over a couple hundred dollars for tickets to a Ringling Bros. Circus performance in Everett, Washington, a lovely family had a change of heart after talking to PETA demonstrators outside the arena. Rather than watching trainers whip tigers and smack elephants with bullhooks, the entire family decided that it was worth it to sacrifice the money! (The venue refused to give them a refund.) Gotta love 'em.
If the circus is coming to your town, remember that leafleting can and does change minds. Contact us and we'll help you convince people never to buy tickets!
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
Good habit
Bad habit
Written by Amy Elizabeth
Mobilized by PETA's Action Team, more than 200 people descended on the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, last night to let Ringling Bros. know that its elephant-abusing act isn't welcome.
The highlight of the evening came when protestors chanted, "There's no excuse for animal abuse—boycott Ringling circus," so loudly that they drowned out a Ringling promoter. At the time, the promoter was talking about Baby Barack—probably in a shameless attempt to hawk show tickets. Even after turning up the volume on his amplified microphone, the promoter was still overpowered and had no choice but to pack up his gear and leave!
PETA isn't alone in opposing Ringling, which allows its trainers to beat elephants with sharp, metal-tipped bullhooks to force the animals to perform; tears baby elephants away from their mothers; and keeps these smart, social animals in chains. In a historic partnership, four Northern California animal protection groups—the Marin Humane Society, East Bay SPCA, Humane Society Silicon Valley, and the Sacramento SPCA—have joined forces to ask everyone to boycott Ringling in response to its cruelty. We can take action, too, by asking officials to seize Ringling's abused elephants and by urging everyone we know to attend only animal-free circuses.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
Animals Asia Foundation recently released photos of bicycle-riding bears and boxing bears in Chinese circuses, and the pictures are poignant reminders of the misery that animals endure in circuses throughout China. Not that the atrocities done to animals who are touring (if you can call living in a smelly boxcar and then in a dungeonlike stadium basement "touring") with circuses in the U.S. have been stopped. After all, in the U.S., elephants are routinely beaten with rods, sticks, and bullhooks, whipped into submission, and chained so that they are barely able to move.
Of course, no one had to get out the bullhook to convince PETA Asia staffers to work hard on China's first-ever animal protection laws. Earlier this year, they met with Chinese government officials and discussed ways to help animals—including improving conditions for animals in circuses. These photos are further proof of how urgently animals need us. Get the "Hot and Sour Scoop" on PETA Asia's work by visiting the group's blog. And help animals here at home by boycotting the circus.
And, this week's 10% Wool "Tag and Release" winner is ... Beth Ann! Congratulations.
Don't forget to check out the archive of past 10% Wool comic strips here. Get more information on the series and the writer here, and learn how to get Jeff's other comic, DeFlocked, into your local paper here.
munn∙tas∙tic (mun tas′ tik) adj. Tremendously great; extraordinarily good {e.g., "Actor and Daily Show correspondent Olivia Munn is munntastic for posing for an anti-circus billboard and leading yesterday's PETA protest against Ringling Bros. Circus at the Staples Center in Los Angeles."}
Christian Serratos, Pink, and Jillian Michaels are also pretty darn munntastic for tweeting about the event. Ringling, on the other hand, is hideous. Animals used by Ringling live in fear, are beaten into submission, and are forced to perform tricks that to them are confusing and meaningless. Still-nursing baby elephants are captured and dragged away from their mothers. Baby elephants are stretched out, slammed to the ground, gouged with steel-tipped bullhooks, and shocked with electric prods. These abusive sessions go on for several hours a day for up to a year.
Now here comes the part where you can do something munntastic for animals who are abused in circuses. Check out the video and the ele-friendly advice that Olivia posted on her blog. Show the video to everyone you know and tell them to show it to everyone that they know. While you're at it, help elephants by signing this petition.
No one likes to be stuck in traffic, but commuters on Hollywood's famous Sunset Strip at least have some eye candy to help them pass the time: Olivia Munn, au naturel, in PETA's sexy anti-circus billboard.
In an exclusive PETA interview, the G4 Attack of the Show host, star of the upcoming NBC comedy series Perfect Couples,and new "Senior Asian Correspondent" for The Daily Show says that she was "brought to tears" after seeing PETA's undercover footage of Ringling Bros. trainers beating elephants with bullhooks. Olivia is asking her fans to join her in boycotting the circus. "Everyone at home," she says, "if you have a Twitter or MySpace or Facebook or … your own blog, you have to get the message out."
You heard the lady: Please tell everyone you know why circuses are no fun for animals.
Written by Paula Moore
There's nothing to celebrate about how elephants are treated in the circus: They are constantly beaten with sharp bullhooks, electro-shocked, whipped, and kept chained for days on end. But we can honor these beleaguered animals by speaking out and using our materials—from comic books to videos—to spread the word far and wide in order to get others to avoid circuses that use animals.
June 24 is "Remember an Elephant" Day. Tie a string around your finger and wear it all day. When people ask what the string is for, tell them about how elephant babies are taken away from their loving mothers and "broken" by being tied down by all four legs and beaten. Remind your friends, family, and coworkers that every ticket bought to a circus that uses animals perpetuates that cruelty. Show our video to someone with kids, and encourage him or her to join you in remembering elephants on this special day.
Elephants never forget, but people quickly do. Head over to Facebook to RSVP for the event, and don't forget to check out our cool new T-shirts and other good stuff that will help you educate others all year long!
One of our top activists has just been arrested for participating in an anti-circus demonstration in Dallas. Her crime? You tell us, Dallas P.D.! No one will even tell us why she was arrested! Watch the action for yourself:
Thanks to Animal Connection of Texas for capturing this on video, and hang in there, Meggan! We'll update you as soon as we know more.
Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth
We're always super chuffed to hear what our supporters are doing to help animals (hey, we can't do it all ourselves!), so please, let us brag on one of our star members:
It was next to the last minute, when Anna Ware—a member of both PETA's Executive Committee and our Vanguard Society—discovered that the notoriously cruel Carson & Barnes Circus would be arriving in her community. Undeterred, she pulled together a great demonstration in less than 24 hours. Calling her friends to call their friends and calling us to call everyone we know, she let circus attendees know that they'd best turn around or they would be contributing to the suffering of animals. Anna went to Kinko's and printed out posters that detailed how camels and other animals are denied basic comforts such as shade and water, and she and the other demonstrators educated anyone within earshot:
No matter which circus may be coming to your town—or how last-minute it may be—you can follow Anna's example and put together an effective demonstration on the fly. For more ideas about how you can speak out for animals, check this out!
Written by Jeff Mackey
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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