Written by Michelle Kretzer
The Newsroom star and staunch anti-circus activist Olivia Munn knows that in circuses, it's animals who pay the price, so she's asking Groupon to stop promoting cruelty with its discounted circus tickets. Groupon is selling out animals who are forcibly taken away from their mothers, have their spirits broken, are kept in chains, and are threatened with beatings if they don't perform night after night.
Photo: Hama Sanders/www.hamasanders.com Hair: Steven Lake for Exclusive Artists Makeup: Julie Cuomo Wardrobe: April Steiner for Exclusive Artists Elephant background: (c) iStockphoto.com/Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli
To add insult to cruelty, Groupon claims to promote only circuses with clean inspection reports, but the company clearly isn't doing its homework. In fact, most of the circuses that Groupon promotes have received multiple citations for violations of even the minimum protections of the Animal Welfare Act.
In her letter, Olivia asked Groupon CEO Andrew Mason to use his company's position as a mass retailer to influence positive change for animals who are abused by circuses:
You have the power to make a change for the better by halting the promotion of circuses that abuse animals. Such a change would be a powerful example of corporate responsibility, innovation, growth, and compassion.
Join Olivia in asking Groupon to give animals the "deal of the day" by halting promotions of cruel circuses.
Groupon claims it's all about deals, but it's giving animals and consumers a raw one. The online discounter has been offering tickets to circus performances, claiming to promote only circuses with "clean [U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)] and public record inspection reports from at least the past 2 years." But if Groupon were actually checking out the circuses it hawks tickets for, it would know that most of them have received numerous citations during the past two years from the USDA for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. PETA has written to Groupon demanding that the company stop misleading customers:
The statements have the potential to mislead the public, and consumers in particular, about Groupon's sponsorship of circuses and inappropriately influence the compassionate consumer's choice not to patronize Groupon and the inhumane forms of 'entertainment' that it sponsors. PETA demands that Groupon immediately stop misleading the public and put an end to its circus promotions.
Just a few of the incidents that Groupon is content to overlook include the following:
Tell Groupon to give animals a fair deal and stop promoting abusive circuses to make a quick buck.
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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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