Wounded 'Elephant' to Lafayette Schoolchildren: Circuses Hurt Animals

PETA Pachyderm Ellie to Hand Out Activity Books That Expose Ringling's Violent Treatment of Baby Elephants

For Immediate Release:
April 6, 2010

Contact:
Virginia Fort  757-622-7382

Lafayette, La. -- An "elephant" with a bloody bandage wrapped around a wound on her head will greet students as they leave Myrtle Place Elementary School tomorrow. The elephant will hand out activity booklets and explain to kids and their parents that animals used by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus--which is scheduled to visit Lafayette soon--are jabbed with spiked, metal bullhooks and beaten to make them perform difficult tricks that are confusing and sometimes painful to them.

Where:  Myrtle Place Elementary School, 1100 Myrtle Pl., near the intersection of Myrtle Place and Oaklawn Avenue, Lafayette
When:    Tuesday, April 6, 2:45 p.m.

"If children knew how animals suffer behind the scenes, their smiles would quickly turn to frowns," says PETA Director Debbie Leahy.

PETA has released 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 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.