Written by PETA
Update: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has ordered Cole Bros. to pay a $15,000 penalty for its numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
After receiving complaints from PETA about the cruel and neglectful treatment of elephants Tina and Jewell, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has now formally charged Cole Bros. Circus and its owner, John Pugh, for numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including the following:
In addition, Cole Bros. Circus and Pugh were charged with exhibiting animals without a license, employing a tiger handler who lacked adequate training, and illegally dealing in tigers.
The charges follow the seizure of Jewell and subsequent surrender of Tina in 2009 after the circus was slapped with a $150,000 fine for illegally selling the elephants in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Tina and Jewell were rehomed at a zoo, which, while not ideal, is a considerable improvement over being trucked across the country in chains and cramped, stuffy trailers.
Wherever the circus goes, you can bet that animal suffering goes with it. Please leave these cruel shows off your summer itinerary and choose animal-free circuses instead.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
Written by Michelle Kretzer
"As a lifelong Democrat, I never thought I'd lead an effort to defend the symbol of the Republican Party," writes Alec Baldwin in a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Baldwin is sending Vilsack the video he hosted for PETA exposing Ringling Bros.' abuse of animals and asking the USDA to take action.
Despite the fact that many states and cities have animal protection laws in place that prohibit abuse such as beating animals with steel-tipped bullhooks, forcing crippled animals to work, or keeping animals in chains, state and local laws often go unenforced, and circuses like Ringling continue their cruel business as usual. But the USDA has the power to change that.
Local laws designed to protect these animals are not being enforced because the circus skirts authorities or uses its financial clout to get them to look the other way," wrote Alec. "That's why I am writing to you and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to step up and enforce the Animal Welfare Act.
Under the Animal Welfare Act, the USDA has the power to seize all of Ringling's arthritic elephants who are forced to perform, meaning that these animals, who are beaten day after day to make them to perform painful stunts, could then be retired to sanctuaries. It would be another positive step for the USDA to take toward protecting animals from cruelty, after last year's landmark $270,000 fine levied against Ringling for animal welfare violations.
Join Alec in asking the USDA to step up in behalf of elephants once again.
Written by Jeff Mackey
PETA's work to put a stop to the elephant rides offered at California fairs by the notoriously cruel exhibitor Have Trunk Will Travel—including submitting extensive written testimony to fair board members, sending a PETA representative to testify, and issuing an action alert—continues to bear fruit, as Orange County has followed in the compassionate footsteps of the Santa Ana Zoo and will no longer be hosting elephant rides.
Marion Doss | cc by 2.0
The Orange County Fair had hosted Have Trunk Will Travel—whose trainers have been caught on video repeatedly shocking elephants with electric prods and beating them with bullhooks (cruel instruments resembling fireplace pokers)—for 25 years. But after more than a year of pressure from PETA, Animal Defenders International, and others, including many wonderful PETA Files readers—have I told you lately that I love you?—the OC Fair has told the animal abusers at Have Trunk Will Travel to step off.
Please thank the members of the OC Fair Board for their compassionate decision and ask the San Diego County and Los Angeles County fairs to follow suit by banning Have Trunk Will Travel.
In the final chapter of a case we've been following for some time now, the Knoxville Zoo has agreed to pay a $9,000 fine stemming from the death of elephant handler Stephanie James, who was crushed by Edie, a female African elephant.
The zoo was initially cited after PETA urged the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) to enforce the law in the wake of the highly preventable fatality. TOSHA agreed with PETA and assessed a fine, but the zoo had contested the decision before finally settling the case this week.
Benoit Dupont|cc by 2.0
In addition, after this incident, PETA urged the Knoxville Zoo to switch to a safer and more humane method of working with captive elephants called "protected contact," in which barriers always separate elephants and handlers and bullhooks are never used, and the zoo agreed. While this is a definite improvement, no zoo can provide an adequate environment for the needs of elephants, so PETA will stay on the job until all captive animals are free.
In advance of the Ringling Bros. circus' stop in Baltimore later this month, Jada Pinkett Smith, a proud native of Charm City, has written to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake urging her to make sure that the city's absolute ban on the use of any "mechanical, electrical, or manual device that is likely to cause physical injury or suffering" to induce or encourage an animal to perform is enforced, according to Baltimore City Health Code § 10-407(a), to prohibit Ringling from using bullhooks on elephants.
In her letter, Jada explains, "Unlike me and other actors, elephants do not choose to perform. They are often violently coerced by Ringling's trainers with bullhooks, which are jabbed into the sensitive areas of their bodies."
Using bullhooks on elephants in Baltimore would be against the law—not that the violation would be a first for Ringling, which was slapped with a record $270,000 fine for abuse of animals in circuses, stemming from dozens of violations of the Animal Welfare Act all the way back to 2007.
Join Jada Pinkett Smith, Cloris Leachman, Chrissie Hynde, and many more kind people in demanding action to protect the elephants abused by Ringling.
Ringling Bros. might have gotten a reprieve from the bullhook ban in Fulton County, Georgia (claiming it can't have elephants without the weapons), for the moment, but The Cruelest Show on Earth couldn't escape the throngs of people who showed up to protest on its opening day.
Armed with a bullhorn, posters, leaflets, a flat-screen TV that showed a video of trainers as they beat elephants with bullhooks, giant inflatable pachyderms, and large, eye-catching pictures of "elephant training," the protesters drew quite a crowd.
The circus … not so much. Word from inside was that it didn't look like many people had bought tickets.
In June, the Board of Commissioners of Fulton County, Georgia, at the urging of PETA, Demi Moore, local citizens, and other animal advocates, banned the use of bullhooks, fireplace poker–like goads that are used to beat and hook elephants in sensitive areas of their bodies in order to make them obey commands. This meant that if Ringling Bros. wanted to bring the Cruelest Show on Earth to Atlanta, it would have to leave behind the torture devices that the elephants fear.
But with its Atlanta shows scheduled to start this week, Ringling, knowing that it can't control the elephants without bullhooks and so would have to leave the pachyderms out of the ring, filed a plea for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the ban on Monday afternoon, claiming that there was no specific intergovernmental agreement between Fulton County and the city of Atlanta and that the ban did not apply in the city. To everyone's surprise, Ringling got its way, and the TRO was granted.
PETA has issued the following statement:
The legislation banning bullhooks was passed because of a serious commitment by the citizens and commissioners of Fulton County to prohibit this sort of animal abuse in their community. The Municipal Code of Atlanta very clearly incorporates all of the Fulton County animal control ordinances—including the bullhook ban. PETA is concerned that the clearly worded prohibition and the wishes of Fulton County citizens have been disregarded without a proper legal basis. Bullhooks, as admitted by Ringling trainers and executives, are used to beat, jab, hook, and yank elephants in order to force them to obey. There are only two uses for a bullhook: to inflict pain and to instill a fear of pain. While a ban on the use of bullhooks is an important step in the right direction, it is now clear that anyone who cares about elephants and other captive exotic animals must make the compassionate decision never to attend a circus that uses animals.
Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts issued a statement saying he believes that there was an implied agreement between Atlanta and Fulton County and that the ban should be upheld.
Compassionate people are making their voices heard, and they will continue until the beatings under the big top stop.
Written by Jennifer OConnor
Notorious animal abuser Doug Terranova may not work for peanuts, but the $25,000 fine that he was recently slapped with by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act has to have put a dent in his bank account.
PETA has been keeping tabs on Terranova—who rents animals to circuses, fairs, TV shows, and movies like Spy Kids 2 and Rushmore—for years and has filed multiple complaints about his careless handling of elephants and tigers.
In one incident, an elephant named Kamba, whom Terranova had rented to a circus in Oklahoma, escaped and ran onto the highway, where she was hit by a vehicle and sustained several injuries, including a fractured carpal bone, a broken tusk, and numerous abrasions. The USDA confiscated a tiger cub from Terranova after two other tiger cubs died in his care at the Iowa State Fair.
The USDA has stipulated that when Terranova's license comes up for renewal, it will be renewed only if he no longer owns, handles, or exhibits elephants. In the meantime, Terranova is still on the road and will be performing with the Shrine Circus.
Boycott the Shrine Circus, and ask your local Shriners to stop sponsoring animal acts.
The town of Molins de Rei has joined more than 60 other Spanish cities that have enacted bans against circuses that use animals.
Our colleagues at Asociación Animalista Libera received overwhelming support from city officials after pointing out that animals in circuses live in cramped cages and are beaten with bullhooks and whips in order to force them to obey. The ban includes all exhibitors that use wild animals.
Contact PETA's Action Team to get a campaign to ban animal acts underway in your own town.
After being used by a circus in Chile for nearly six decades, Ramba, a female elephant who spent her off-hours living in a parking lot, has been transferred to a safari park, thanks to the efforts of local residents who fought for her release. Ramba is being treated by an elephant specialist in hopes that she can be made healthy enough eventually to be transferred to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. But even if she's not up to the trip, Ramba's days of performing stupid tricks are over.
The lame and sick elephants traveling with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus also deserve a happy ending.
Click here to urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to follow up on the record fine that it imposed on Ringling by seizing the circus's worn-out and ailing elephants.
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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