Santa Rosa Mall Bans Animal Exhibits After PETA Appeal

After Learning That Animals in Circuses Are Chained and Beaten, Local Mall Pledges Not to Host Cruel Circus Acts Again

For Immediate Release:
November 11, 2015

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

A box of delicious elephant-shaped vegan chocolates is on its way to the Santa Rosa Mall as a thank-you from PETA for its recent decision to ban circuses that use animals. The decision was made after the mall—which hosted the Cole Bros. Circus last month—learned from PETA that animals used by circuses and other animal exhibitors are dragged across the country in shackles and forced to perform confusing and uncomfortable tricks for audiences.

“A life of miserable confinement and constant punishment is no life at all for elephants, tigers, and other highly sensitive, intelligent animals,” says PETA Foundation Deputy Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “As audiences across the country turn away from circuses that still force animals to perform, PETA is urging other companies to follow in the Santa Rosa Mall’s compassionate and business-savvy footsteps by banning all animal acts.”

As noted by PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” Cole Bros. has repeatedly failed to meet minimum standards of care for the animals it imprisons. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has repeatedly cited the circus for failure to provide animals with veterinary care, including elephants who have shown extreme weight loss, as well as adequate space. The USDA ordered Cole Bros. to pay a $15,000 fine to settle more than 10 formal charges for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including failure to hire personnel capable of caring for elephants.

Santa Rosa Mall joins other progressive businesses—including General Growth Properties, Macerich, and many individual venues across the country—that have enacted bans on animal displays.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.