PETA Statement on Camel Panicking at Shrine Circus, Causing Children to Be Sent to Hospital

For Immediate Release:
September 16, 2018

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Deputy Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Rachel Mathews in response to an incident at the Pittsburgh Shrine Circus today in which a camel tried to flee while people were riding on the animal’s back, reportedly causing at least six children to be taken to the hospital:

This dangerous incident is exactly what Pittsburgh’s ban on using weapons to threaten wild and exotic animals should be preventing. Had the Shriners abided by the law and left animals out of their show, instead of taking the city to court, this camel and these children would have been spared this terror and possible injury. PETA is calling on the Syria Shriners to let this be the straw that ends the camel acts and urging the public never to buy a ticket to any circus that uses animals.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” and more information about Pittsburgh’s ban on using weapons to abuse wild and exotic animals is available here.