Elephants, Camels Gone! Moslah Shrine Circus Ends Wild-Animal Acts After PETA Push

For Immediate Release:
November 7, 2026

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Faced with mounting public pressure and protests from PETA and Lone Star Humane Association to stop forcing wild animals to perform, the Moslah Shrine Circus has dropped elephant and camel acts from its shows—a victory for wildlife and the humans who respect them. On Friday, PETA escalated its campaign to end the cruel spectacles, establishing an unmissable presence outside the circus’s performance at NYTEX Sports Centre with a life-size inflatable “beaten elephant”—to be met by a Shriner who said, “You know you guys won, right?” before storming off.

Ahead of this year’s circus, PETA sent Moslah Shrine Potentate Brett Boone a letter, noting that major circuses across the country have left such cruel spectacles behind—recognizing that audiences today don’t want to see animals subjected to a lifetime of confinement, coercion, and suffering.

Outside the Moslah Shrine Circus in North Richland Hills on November 6. Credit: PETA

“By leaving elephants and camels out of the ring, the Moslah Shrine Circus has set an example that the few remaining Shrine circuses still clinging to animal acts must follow,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “PETA reminds everyone to never attend a circus that makes a sideshow out of animals’ suffering, loneliness, and subservience.”

In nature, camels live in tight-knit groups called caravans and express their feelings with groans, moans, and roars, while elephants live in matriarchal herds and share mothering responsibilities for the herds’ babies. The Moslah Shrine has routinely partnered with notoriously cruel exhibitors, including Carson & Barnes Circus—whose longtime head trainer was caught on video instructing trainers to sink sharp, steel-tipped bullhooks into elephants’ flesh and twist them until they scream. Carson & Barnes Circus has been cited for nearly 150 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

PETA notes that communities, states, and hundreds of venues have now prohibited or restricted animal acts, and that nearly every major circus has dropped wild-animal acts. Many others, including Ringling Bros., have gone completely animal-free. More than 500,000 PETA supporters have called on Shriners International to ban the use of animal acts in all Shrine circuses.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—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.

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