Depressed, Disabled Elephant Dragged to San Antonio; PETA Urges Feds to Prevent ‘Catastrophic’ Breakdown

For Immediate Release:
August 26, 2025

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Ahead of the Carden Circus’ appearance in San Antonio on September 5, PETA sent an urgent letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) this morning, calling on federal officials to move quickly to remove a 56-year-old elephant named Betty from the notorious Carden family’s custody. The elderly, disabled elephant—who was taken as a baby from Thailand—has been held by the Cardens for nearly 40 years, and PETA’s action follows a scathing new welfare report from one of the world’s leading elephant experts, who has warned that Betty is likely to have a “catastrophic and likely fatal collapse in the near future” if she is not retired to a reputable sanctuary to receive vital care.

In the report, Dr. Chris Draper warns:

• Betty appears withdrawn, unresponsive, and physically subdued, frequently standing still with her eyes closed and her trunk on the ground—what the report calls “behavior inconsistent with good welfare in elephants.”
• Betty shows signs of significant physical compromise, including impaired mobility in her right front leg, consistent with joint pain or injury.
• Betty’s trunk function appears partially paralyzed, with visible atrophy in the central section. While healthy elephants use their trunks to communicate, eat, bathe, and more, Betty simply drags her trunk while walking, suggesting serious muscular or

neurological impairment. PETA notes that Betty’s apparent partial trunk paralysis may stem from being forced to stand on her head—putting her several tons of weight on her trunk—in dozens of shows a year for decades.

“While children who may have seen her in circus acts have long since grown up, gotten jobs, and had children of their own, for Betty, nothing changes. Betty has no light left in her eyes after being ruthlessly exploited, denied a real life, and pushed to the brink of collapse for nearly 40 years by the Carden family,” says PETA Foundation Senior Director of Captive Wildlife Debbie Metzler. “PETA is urging federal authorities to intervene and get the Most Depressed Elephant in the World to a reputable sanctuary and for local audiences to steer clear of any circus that forces ailing elephants or other animals to perform.”

Dr. Draper’s findings corroborate the ample evidence of Betty’s frailty that PETA has provided to the USDA in a dozen formal complaints since 2010, yet despite citing the Carden Circus for failing to assess and treat Betty’s stiffness in 2011—a violation that has never been corrected—the agency has failed to take any enforcement action. Even as her condition deteriorates, Betty has been forced to continue performing—and last year alone was used in nearly 300 shows.

When not being made to perform or carry riders on her back, Betty is chained and forced to travel long distances in cramped trailers. So far in 2025, she has been used for at least 196 shows across 13 states.

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.