Arrested PETA Supporters to Return to Texas RenFest to Protest MediEVIL Elephant Rides

For Immediate Release:
October 23, 2026

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Undeterred by their violent arrests at last weekend’s rally against cruel elephant rides at the Texas Renaissance Festival, the same PETA supporters will return this Saturday—no longer in handcuffs and determined to free elephants from their shackles. Holding “Don’t Go In” signs, the animal allies will call on visitors to skip the festival until it ends the exploitative rides—which are provided by notorious exhibitor Trunks and Humps, whose handlers have been seen wielding sharp, steel-tipped bullhooks to force elephants to comply. Photos and video of the arrests are available here.

Following last weekend’s arrests, PETA has notified the local law enforcement and City Hall of the action, but maintains that supporters need no permit to exercise their First Amendment rights there.

“PETA supporters will not be silenced and will keep up the pressure until these archaic and cruel elephant rides are relegated to the history books,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “The Texas Renaissance Festival can play at living in the Dark Ages all it wants without dragging abused elephants back there, too.”

When:            Saturday, October 24, 12 noon

Where:           Outside the Texas Renaissance Festival, along FM 1774, Todd Mission (near the intersection of Ren Fest Drive)

Why:              PETA notes that Trunks and Humps has racked up a slew of federal Animal Welfare Act violations. In nature, elephants live in close-knit matriarchal herds, protect one another, and share responsibility for raising their young—but those exploited for rides typically spend much of their lives chained in trailers, hauled from event to event, and forced to stand on hard surfaces for long periods. They routinely suffer from painful, debilitating joint and foot problems and may sway endlessly—a sign of psychological distress.

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.