Big Top Bullies! Carden Circus to Face Uproar Over Cruel Animal Acts
For Immediate Release:
March 6, 2025
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Clash at Carden! Bearing signs reading, “Circuses: No Fun for Animals,” a cadre of PETA supporters and local animal allies will cause a ruckus outside the Carden Circus’s show in Springfield on Saturday to demand that it finally end its shameful animal acts.
“Cruelty takes center stage at Carden Circus, where suffering animals are forced to perform confusing and demeaning tricks in front of screaming crowds,” says PETA Foundation Senior Director of Captive Wildlife Debbie Metzler. “PETA is calling on the Carden family to get out of the dark ages and drop the animal acts, as numerous other circuses have already done.”
Where: 601 E. St. Louis St. (at the intersection of E. Traffic Way St. and N. Kimbrough Ave.), Springfield
When: Saturday, March 8, 1 p.m.
A worker at a circus threatens an elephant with a bullhook. Credit: PETA
Why: In nature, elephants live in matriarchal herds, protect one another, and share mothering responsibilities for the herds’ babies. At least two elephants exhibited by Carden have tested positive for tuberculosis, and others have been barred from performing because of the possibility that they were carrying the virus and could infect humans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has cited Carden for many violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, including failing to provide adequate veterinary care, failing to provide safe enclosures and sufficient space for animals, failing to handle animals properly, and failing to provide tigers with proper nutrition.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
