Street Festival to Face Flak for Cruel Animal Acts

PETA, LION Protesters Will Urge Chamber of Commerce to Nix Appearance by ‘Wild World of Animals’

For Immediate Release:
September 20, 2019

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

Armed with signs proclaiming, “No More Animal Acts,” PETA and Long Island Orchestrating for Nature (LION) supporters will descend on the Bellmore Street Festival—organized by the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce—on Saturday, when animal exhibitor Wild World of Animals is slated to bring a leopard, a bearcat, an alligator, and other exotic animals for a performance.

When:    Saturday, September 21, 12:45 p.m.

Where:    Oak Street and Bedford Avenue, Bellmore

“Animals used in fairs are taken away from their mothers as babies, locked inside cages or shackled in chains, and dragged from town to town to be gawked at or handled by strangers,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is urging all kind people to join us in demanding an end to the cruel animal acts at the Bellmore Street Festival.”

Last year, a PETA complaint prompted state officials to cite Wild World of Animals exhibitor Grant Kemmerer for five violations of state wildlife laws, including three of New York’s “tiger selfie” law for allowing members of the public to handle big cats during parties at a Long Island residence.

Several local fairs have ended animal acts in recent years, including the Levittown Chamber of Commerce festival and the Northport Fireman’s Fair. Ringling Bros. circus closed down in 2017, citing declining ticket sales and shifting public opinion.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.