East River Animal Defenders to Descend on El Riad Shrine Circus

For Immediate Release:
April 25, 2024

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Sioux Falls, S.D. –

On Saturday, a herd of PETA supporters brandishing signs that read, “Don’t Lie to Your Children—This Place Hurts Animals,” will converge outside the Sioux Falls Arena to call on the El Riad Shrine Circus to finally modernize and make its performances animal-free. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as well as many other Shrine circuses have already stopped exploiting animals—and just last week, the Hadi Shrine Circus in Indiana announced that it would drop its elephant acts.

When: Saturday, April 27, 8 a.m., 1 p.m., and 6 p.m.

Where: In front of the Sioux Falls Arena (at the intersection of W. Avenue and W. Bailey Street), Sioux Falls

The El Riad Shrine Circus is among the last remaining shows that still use wild animals, who are confined to small crates or kept in shackles and are deprived of any semblance of a natural or happy life. Animals forced to perform in Shrine circuses live under the constant threat of being hit with whips and bullhooks—sharp steel-tipped implements that resemble fireplace pokers and have been banned in several states. Shrine circuses routinely obtain animals for their acts from notoriously cruel companies—including the Carden family, a frequent El Riad Shrine Circus exhibitor—with long histories of citations for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act.

*A worker at a circus threatens an elephant with a bullhook. Credit: PETA*

“In cruel Shrine circuses, elephants and other animals are coerced into performing demeaning tricks through pain, terror, and punishment,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on the El Riad Shrine to drop these cruel and abusive animal acts, as numerous other Shrines have already done.”

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 the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.