PETA Unveils Sad-Elephant Statue in Coney Island

As Circus Comes to Town, Group Showcases Ringling's Violent Treatment of Baby Elephants 

For Immediate Release:
June 17,2010

Contact:
Ashley Byrne 757-622-7382 

New York -- Designed by renowned New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss, PETA's sad-elephant sculpture, "Ella PhantzPeril," will be unveiled Thursday in Coney Island to coincide with the opening of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the same location. The statue depicts a shackled baby elephant and includes the inscription "See Shackles, Bullhooks, Loneliness--All Under the Big Top." PETA will hold a spirited protest later in the day, and the statue will remain in place all summer as a reminder to prospective circusgoers that animals used by Ringling are jabbed with bullhooks, shocked with electric prods, whipped, and beaten.

When:   Thursday, June 17, 12 noon–1 p.m.

Where:  Intersection of Surf Avenue and W. 21st Street, Coney Island

"If your kids love animals, the last place you should take them is to a circus that forces animals to either perform or feel the whip," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "When kids find out that baby elephants are taken away from their mothers, chained, and beaten--all for a few silly tricks--they don't want any part of the big top."

PETA has released dozens of never-before-seen photos taken inside Ringling's Florida training center by a veteran elephant handler. The photos expose how still-nursing baby elephants are captured rodeo-style and dragged away from their loving mothers. The babies scream and struggle frantically as they are wrestled, 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.

For more information, please visit PETA's Web site RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.