Feds Alerted as Expert Warns Elephants Used by Carson & Barnes Suffer Abuse, Chronic Ailments
For Immediate Release:
April 15, 2026
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
A report from a leading elephant expert reveals that an elephant named Viola—who is known as “The Most Desperate Elephant in the World,” and who has spent five decades in chains with Hugo-based Carson & Barnes Circus—is being forced to perform and give rides despite appearing unable or unwilling to bend her right front wrist, and is at risk of infection from an apparently untreated and likely painful toenail condition. Foot and joint issues are among the leading causes of death for elephants in captivity. In light of the report by Dr. Chris Draper, an elephant expert with over 25 years of experience in animal welfare science, PETA sent a letter today to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), calling on the agency to launch an immediate investigation into Carson & Barnes, ensure the elephants receive adequate veterinary care, and end all abusive training tactics.
Dr. Draper reports seeing 56-year-old Viola—who has run away from her abusers at least four times—“shuffling the [right] leg forward without visible flexion,” and that the toenail on her left front foot appears to have separated at the quick, with dark discoloration, and “visible separation when weightbearing.” Draper also observed a handler using a sharp, steel-tipped weapon called a bullhook to repeatedly prod the elderly Viola, apparently to keep her moving in a tight circle while being forced to give rides.
PETA’s letter also cites Dr. Draper’s March visit to Carson & Barnes’ Hugo-based compound, the “Endangered Ark Foundation,” a seedy roadside zoo that claims to be a “retirement” home for elephants while forcing them into cruel and dangerous public encounters, with trainers controlling every aspect of the elephants’ lives: they dictate where they go, when they stand or lie down, and even when they’re allowed to urinate. There, Dr. Draper witnessed—and PETA documented on video—an elderly elephant named Traci struggling to stand to relieve herself, as a trainer yells at her to lie down, jabs her with a bullhook, and twists the weapon into sensitive areas until she gives up and lies down in her own waste. The video also shows a trainer jabbing another elephant named Whimpy in the ear so forcefully that she recoils, and both elephants are shown swaying back and forth—a known sign of severe distress.
“For elephants used by Carson & Barnes, old age brings no mercy, only more pain, while handlers jab them with bullhooks and force them to perform even as their bodies are failing,” says PETA Foundation Managing Director of Captive Wildlife Debbie Metzler. “PETA urges the USDA to get these elephants the veterinary care they desperately need and stop Carson & Barnes from gouging them with weapons.”
In nature, elephants live in matriarchal herds, protect one another, and share mothering responsibilities for the herds’ babies. Carson & Barnes—which has been cited for nearly 150 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act—is one of the last remaining suppliers in the country that continues to lease out elephants for traveling circuses.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—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.
