As the L.A. County Fair opens this Saturday, notorious elephant-abusing company Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT) is scheduled to be there, selling rides on elephants. There is still time for people to e-mail L.A. County Fair organizers and ask that they send HTWT packing.
If HTWT attends as scheduled, members of PETA and Animal Defenders International (ADI) will protest at the entrance to the fairgrounds on Saturday afternoon. The groups will screen the video footage that ADI obtained showing HTWT trainers striking elephants with sharp, metal-tipped bullhooks and shocking them with electric prods.
Although fair organizers have seen this footage and heard from countless people, including classic rock band Styx, asking them to bar HTWT from the fair, they have refused to do so. By allowing HTWT at the fair, organizers are not only supporting elephant abuse but also putting the public at risk. One of the elephants used by HTWT revolted at the Denver Zoo, throwing a trainer against a wall, knocking over a woman and her baby, and scattering crowds of visitors. Another elephant who came from HTWT trampled a handler at the L.A. Zoo, smashing his collarbone and bruising three ribs.
Help keep the pressure on the L.A. County Fair and remind the organizers that there is nothing festive about cruelty to animals.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
