PETA to Protest Cruel Elephant Rides in Downtown L.A.

Group Mobilizes Local Members to Speak Out Against Notoriously Abusive Company Have Trunk Will Travel

For Immediate Release:
May 31, 2013

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Los Angeles – Holding signs that read, “Stop Cruel Elephant Rides,” PETA members will head downtown on Saturday to protest the Curacao Children’s Fair, which will offer elephant rides by Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT), the company that was caught on video by Animal Defenders International beating elephants with bullhooks and shocking them with electric prods. PETA has sent a letter to Curacao CEO Ron Azarkman asking him to cancel the rides, which also pose a risk to public safety: One of the elephants who has been used by HTWT ran amok at the Denver Zoo, throwing a trainer against a wall, scattering crowds of visitors, and knocking over a mother and her baby.

When:   Saturday, June 1, 2 p.m.

Where:  W. Olympic Boulevard and S. Union Avenue, Los Angeles

PETA has also sent an urgent e-mail alert encouraging Los Angeles–area members to contact Curacao and to attend the protest in full force if the elephant rides are not canceled.

“Have Trunk Will Travel’s documented history of beating and shocking elephants has led numerous venues—including the L.A. County Fair, the Orange County Fair, and the Santa Ana Zoo—to sever their ties with this abusive outfit,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. “PETA is calling on Curacao to cancel these cruel rides—and on Los Angeles families to stay far away from them.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.