Protesters Will Spotlight Ringling's Violent Treatment of Baby Animals
For Immediate Release:
April 10, 2014
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Norfolk, Va. – The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus uses pain and punishment to force baby elephants to perform in its shows. As seen in these compelling photos, the babies, who are torn away from their mothers, are stretched out, slammed to the ground, gouged with steel-tipped bullhooks, and shocked with electric prods. That’s why PETA’s “crippled elephant” will be front and center along with other protesters outside the Scope on Friday to make sure that the busloads of students who are being shipped in to fill seats at the circus—through free and discounted tickets—know about Ringling’s cruel treatment of elephants and other animals.
When: Friday, April 11, 10 a.m.
Where: Scope Arena, at the intersection of St. Paul’s Boulevard and Brambleton Avenue, Norfolk
“Students and teachers would run screaming from the big top if they knew how baby elephants are violently forced to perform difficult, confusing, and sometimes painful tricks,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel Delcianna Winders. “Children love animals, so the last place that schools should take them to is the circus.”
In late 2011, Ringling Bros. paid the largest fine in circus history—$270,000—for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Actor Alec Baldwin has narrated a video exposé that focuses on how circuses abuse elephants.
For more information, please visit PETA’s website RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.
