Fort Worth Circus’s Use of Elderly Elephants to Draw Three-Ring PETA Ruckus
For Immediate Release:
November 5, 2025
Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382
On Friday, “crying elephants” will be chained and beaten by “circus performers” in fez hats outside the NYTEX Sports Centre as animal advocates push the Moslah Shrine Circus to drop its cruel elephant acts and go animal-free. PETA supporters will also distribute “I Spy” checklists to children and their families to help them identify signs of the elephants’ suffering, like that of 56-year-old Betty—the elderly, disabled, and most depressed elephant in the world, who is being hauled from town to town despite her body and spirit deteriorating.
An elephant expert who recently examined Betty reports that, after more than five decades of being forced to perform in circuses, she is often seen standing motionless with her eyes closed, dragging her partially paralyzed trunk along the ground, and struggling to bend her front legs because of chronic pain. The expert warns that she faces a fatal collapse if not immediately retired to a reputable sanctuary.
“Betty and the other elderly elephants exploited for Shrine circuses have spent their lives in chains and servitude while people their age have built families, friends, and full lives,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is urging everyone to stay away from cruel circuses that still use animals and is calling on federal officials and local authorities to remove Betty before it’s too late.”
Where: NYTEX Sports Centre, 8851 Ice House Dr., North Richland Hills
When: Friday, November 7, at 4 p.m.
Interviews will be available on-site and remotely.
Why: In nature, elephants live in herds, forage for fresh vegetation, and bathe in rivers. Those used in circuses are beaten, whipped, caged, chained, and forced to perform even when they’re sick, elderly, or injured.
PETA notes that Betty’s apparent partial trunk paralysis may stem from being forced to stand on her head—putting her several tons of weight on her trunk—in hundreds of shows a year for decades. PETA encourages everyone to urge the Carden Circus—which leases Betty to several circuses—to go animal-free and let Betty and all the animals live in peace.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
