In a protest called “massive” by a local television station, author and fitness guru Jillian Michaels led the charge alongside producer Sam Simon, Twilight‘s Christian Serratos, The Secret Life of the American Teenager‘s Renee Olstead, and hundreds of demonstrators outside the Los Angeles Staples Center to call attention to the abuse of elephants by the Ringling Bros. circus.
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Numerous elephants used by Ringling Bros. suffer crippling arthritis—a leading cause of euthanasia of captive elephants—because they don’t get the freedom of movement and exercise that they need.
“Their enslavement by the circus means [elephants] spend their lives in chains and stuffy train cars with no freedom to roam, and they suffer painful, fatal ailments that come from such a stressful existence,” says Michaels.
Other compassionate celebrities who supported PETA’s protest via Twitter include Sophia Bush, Kellan Lutz, Alicia Witt, and Sasha Grey, among others.
Please never attend any animal circus performance, and contact PETA’s Action Team to help plan your own demonstration when the circus comes to your city.
Written by Jennifer O’Connor
