For Immediate Release:
March 23, 2009

Contact:
RaeLeann Smith 757-622-7382

PETA points out that this was not an isolated incident. Since 1997, there have been at least 10 incidents in which animals used in Shrine circuses seriously endangered people. In 2005, an elephant in a Shrine circus in Fort Wayne, Ind., stomped a trainer to death. In 2002 and again in 2003, elephants bolted from Shrine circus tents and went on rampages in Wisconsin and Michigan, respectively. In other incidents at Shrine circuses, a chimpanzee bit a circusgoer on the face, a bear bit off the tip of a 2-year-old girl's finger, and a tiger who had been allowed near children later killed two people.

Trainers frequently hit elephants with bullhooks to force them into submission. (A bullhook is a rod that resembles a fireplace poker with a sharp hook on the end.) These stressed and abused animals often snap, causing damage and injuries.

The Shrine does not operate its own circus. Shrine temples hire exhibitors and other acts to perform under the Shrine name. Contrary to popular belief, the profits from Shrine circuses are usually used to fund the temples' administrative costs, not the Shriners' children's hospitals.

"Children were hurt because the Shrine circus ignored the risks of using stressed and abused elephants for rides," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "The Shriners can avoid endangering kids--and inviting lawsuits--by doing away with animal circus fundraisers."

For more information, please visit Circuses.com. To view the ad, please click here.