Sarah Silverman doesn’t think there’s anything funny about hurting animals. The comedian and provocateur has fired off a letter on behalf of PETA to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asking that four ailing elephants traveling with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus be seized. These four girls are still on the road and … Read more »
Animal Defenders International (ADI), which released video footage of an elephant, Tai, and others being hit with bullhooks and shocked with a stun gun, has filed suit against exhibitor Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT) for allegedly making misleading claims about how Tai was treated. PETA Files readers may recall that HTWT is the same outfit … Read more »
ViNull/cc by 2.0 Tennessee officials agreed with PETA that the Knoxville Zoo should be penalized for allowing handlers to come into direct contact with elephants and has recommended $8,400 in fines in connection with the death of a handler earlier this year. Since the attack, the zoo has switched to a safer and more humane … Read more »
Demi Moore is making a decent proposal to the Fulton County, Georgia, Board of Commissioners. The actor is urging boardmembers to vote in favor of a proposed ban on bullhooks tomorrow. In her letter, Moore explained how elephants used in circuses are beaten bloody with the sharp instruments to force them to perform tricks that … Read more »
Earlier this week, we posted undercover video footage taken by London-based Animal Defenders International showing a handler who used a pitchfork and a club to viciously beat an elephant named Annie. When confronted with the video, the elephant’s owner, Bobby Roberts, wisely scrambled to save face by allowing Annie to retire from his “Super Circus” and … Read more »
Rock icon and animal defender Pink recently fired off a letter to President Obama asking him to find out why the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has closed three investigations into serious allegations of cruelty to animals by the Ringling Bros. circus without taking action. The investigations expired because of the statute of limitations—a delay … Read more »
Undercover footage released by London-based Animal Defenders International shows an elephant handler with the “Super Circus” as he viciously kicks and beats a chained 58-year-old elephant named Annie with a pitchfork and a club. At one point, it appears that the elephant, who was taken from the wild as a child for a lifetime of servitude … Read more »
Minarae/cc by 2.0 Great news out of Knoxville: The Knoxville Zoo has decided to permanently employ the protected contact (PC) system to manage the elephants there. PETA has been urging the zoo to switch to PC, which involves using a barrier such as a metal screen, bars, or a restraint chute to separate elephants and handlers at … Read more »
A photojournalist spent days riding through the Burmese jungle on a motorbike in an attempt to capture on film how elephants are “trained” before being smuggled out of Burma and sold into slavery to perform in circuses and street shows in Thailand. Brent Lewin’s prize-winning photograph is leaving viewers horrified in disbelief. During the training session that … Read more »
UPDATE: Last week, Doug Terranova resigned from his position as zookeeper at the Dallas Zoo citing “issues in his business and personal life”. Let’s hope he stays far, far away from any animals. An exotic-animal trainer’s days of abusing exotic animals may be coming to an end. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just … Read more »
FaceMePLS/cc by 2.0 Finally—a measure of justice for Tina and Jewel. The U.S. District Court in Beaumont, Texas, has slapped Cole Bros. Circus with a $150,000 fine and four years of probation for illegally selling the two elephants to former employee Wilbur Davenport in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The court also handed Cole Bros. owner … Read more »
2e14/cc by 2.0 Barack, a 2-year-old elephant calf who was at one point traveling with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, is being treated (again) for elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV). The scientific literature recognizes that stress is strongly associated with EEHV. Ringling has been subjecting baby Barack to the stress of transport, cruel “training,” … Read more »
ViNull/CC by 2.0 One zoo employee has been killed and another maimed in incidents at two separate zoos on the same day. At Riverside Discovery Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, a chimpanzee bit a worker on the hand, severing two of her fingers and injuring a third. At the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee, elephant handler Stephanie … Read more »
Tokio Hotel has no reservations about speaking out against animal abuse in circuses. Just check out PETA Germany’s edgy new “Stop Circus Cruelty” ad featuring Bill and Tom Kaulitz, the talented vegetarian twins behind this überpopular German rock band: Ah, what wunderbar boys! That’s German for “wonderful.” Now here’s the part where you can do something wunderbar … Read more »
… but in a good way. The circus has joined dozens of innovative and entertaining productions in leaving animals out of the act. We campaigned against Circus Vargas years ago when it still forced elephants, llamas, and other animals to perform, but now we’ll sing its praises. People who care about animals don’t want to … Read more »
