PETA's Inflatable Elephant to Confront Potential Circusgoers in Oakland

Protesters Draw Will Attention to Ringling's Violent Treatment of Baby Elephants 

For Immediate Release:
August 7, 2012

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Oakland, Calif. -- A large inflatable elephant will lead PETA members in a protest against the arrival of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on Wednesday. The protesters will display signs that read, "This Is Ringling Baby-Elephant Training," alongside banners emblazoned with compelling photos taken inside Ringling's training center. The photos expose how baby elephants used by Ringling are 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 in order to force the baby elephants to learn to perform circus tricks out of fear of punishment.

When:   Wednesday, August 8, 12 noon

Where:  Intersection of Broadway and 12^th Street, Oakland

"Bay Area residents would run screaming from the big top if they knew how baby elephants are violently forced to perform difficult, confusing, and sometimes painful tricks," says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. "Since children love animals, the last place that parents and grandparents should take them to is the circus."

Late last year, Ringling paid the largest fine in circus history—$270,000—for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The East Bay SPCA, the San Francisco SPCA, and the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA have joined 12 other California humane societies to urge Californians to boycott Ringling Bros. and all other circuses that use animals, citing the circus's routine bullhook and other abuse.

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