PETA, Born Free USA Ask Sacramento Residents to Boycott Cruel Circus After Trainer Is Caught on Tape Beating Elephants

For Immediate Release:
June 12, 2009

Contact:
Megan Grigorian 757-622-7382

Sacramento, Calif. -- Holding signs that read, "Boycott the Circus" and posters showing elephants in chains, members of PETA and Born Free USA will converge on the Cal Expo Center on Saturday to protest the arrival of the Carson & Barnes Circus in Sacramento. Carson & Barnes is a chronic violator of the federal Animal Welfare Act, and PETA has obtained video footage that shows the circus's animal-care director, Tim Frisco, beating elephants.

When:    Saturday, June 13, 3:30 p.m.

Where:   Cal Expo Center, 1600 Exposition Blvd. (Gate 9), Sacramento

In the video footage, Frisco repeatedly attacks elephants with steel-tipped bullhooks and shocks them with electric prods as the animals scream and recoil in pain. "Tear that foot off! Tear it off! Make 'em scream!" Frisco instructs trainers. "Right here in the barn. You can't do it on the road. I'm not gonna touch her in front of a thousand people." The video footage reveals standard elephant-training practices used by the circus industry. PETA recently sent the mayor of Sacramento a letter requesting a ban on bullhooks and other devices used to inflict pain on elephants.
 
"The circus has worked hard to hide its cruelty from children," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "These animals are not volunteers; they are deprived of their families and freedom for the sake of cheap tricks."

For more information, please visit Circuses.com.