The U.K.’s Chipperfield’s Circus—which has been exploiting animals since 1684(!) and was in the news following the beating of a baby chimpanzee some years back—has gone animal-free! Between 1996 and 1998, a long-term investigation of the circus led to successful cruelty-to-animals convictions of the circus’s owners, Mary and Roger Chipperfield; jail for the elephant handler; … Read more »
“For over 100 years, the Shriners have sponsored this World Famous event with proceeds going to a great cause—helping less fortunate children in your community.” That quote was lifted from the Shrine Circus website. But a Shriner in Fort Worth, Texas, was determined to let Animal Connection Texas members who were protesting the Moslah Shrine … Read more »
Adult film star Joanna Angel has taken time out of producing, writing, acting, and directing to conduct a PETA interview about the injustice of forcing animals to do tricks in circuses. In the interview, Joanna points out that chained elephants, whipped tigers, and stressed-out horses don’t perform because they want to—they do it because they … Read more »
Circuses such as Ringling Bros. abuse elephants in so many ways that it’s tough to decide which is worst. But when we polled people on our PETA mobile list, here’s what they chose: Which option gets your vote? Text PETA to 73822 to participate in future polls and receive other alerts on your … Read more »
I think that artistic people are so fantastic. But I’m even more impressed when people take their artistic talent and use it to spread a message—like “elephants never forget.” Needless to say, I was bowled over when I saw this piece by Amy Grace in Hot Springs, Arkansas: Really catches your eye, right? … Read more »
It’s happened again. After forking over a couple hundred dollars for tickets to a Ringling Bros. Circus performance in Everett, Washington, a lovely family had a change of heart after talking to PETA demonstrators outside the arena. Rather than watching trainers whip tigers and smack elephants with bullhooks, the entire family decided that it was … Read more »
Mobilized by PETA’s Action Team, more than 200 people descended on the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, last night to let Ringling Bros. know that its elephant-abusing act isn’t welcome. The highlight of the evening came when protestors chanted, “There’s no excuse for animal abuse—boycott Ringling circus,” so loudly that they drowned out … Read more »
Bullhooks are heavy batons with a sharp metal hook and point on the end. If someone routinely smacked you with one, wouldn’t you eventually fight back? Video footage taken at the Toledo Zoo shows that a young elephant named Louie did just that: He charged his bullhook-wielding keeper, leaving him hospitalized with serious injuries. In … Read more »
The following posting originally appeared in The Sacramento Bee. If anyone out there is still wondering about the superiority of alternatives to animal tests, look no further than what is happening right now in the Gulf of Mexico. In its efforts to assist the devastated region, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is saving time, … Read more »
Thomas Lersch / CC by 3.0 Update: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has written to National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins urging him to scrap plans to transfer more than 200 “retired” chimpanzees from the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico to the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research laboratory in Texas. He has … Read more »
One of our top activists has just been arrested for participating in an anti-circus demonstration in Dallas. Her crime? You tell us, Dallas P.D.! No one will even tell us why she was arrested! Watch the action for yourself: Thanks to Animal Connection of Texas for capturing this on video, and hang in there, Meggan! … Read more »
We’re always super chuffed to hear what our supporters are doing to help animals (hey, we can’t do it all ourselves!), so please, let us brag on one of our star members: It was next to the last minute, when Anna Ware—a member of both PETA’s Executive Committee and our Vanguard Society—discovered that the notoriously … Read more »
The following is a guest post from blogger and former Ringling clown André du Broc I’ve spent much of my life in careers centered around making others happy. As an actor, I believed that my first responsibility was to the audience. They needed to be delighted and engaged by everything that I did on stage. … Read more »
My sister has always written letters and signed petitions about animal issues, but all it took for her to become a full-out anti-circus campaigner was for me to bring home a bullhook from the PETA office for her to see and touch. The sheer ugly menace of this standard elephant training tool really hit her … Read more »
