TV Ad Blasting Animal Captivity as ‘Slavery’ Debuts in Houston as UniverSoul Comes to Town

PETA Spot to Air During Elephant-Abusing Circus’ Stint

For Immediate Release:
July 29, 2015

Contact:
Catie Cryar 202-483-7382

As UniverSoul Circus arrives in Houston next week, TV viewers will get a hard-hitting message from actor and author Robbyne Kaamil, who wrote and narrated a new PETA ad that will air during the Today Show on KPRC-TV (NBC) this week. “My great-great-grandmother was a slave on a North Carolina plantation,” Kaamil says in the ad. “Slavery was a horrible, ugly, and brutal system. … Unfortunately, slavery is still a reality for some.”

Kaamil, whose likeness appears in the animated ad, goes on to explain how elephants are stolen from their families and sold to circuses and other businesses that chain, beat, and exhibit them for profit.

“When you buy a ticket, you are an active participant in this modern-day slave trade,” concludes Kaamil. “[L]et us all stand up and fight for the freedom of animals in captivity. Let’s end slavery everywhere, anywhere, in all its forms, for all living beings.”

PETA supporters will hold demonstrations outside the Joe Kelly Butler Sports Complex before each planned performance during the circus’ stay in Houston beginning on August 6, its opening day.

Elephant handlers with UniverSoul use bullhooks—weapons that resemble a fireplace poker with a sharp steel hook on one end—to force elephants to perform confusing and uncomfortable tricks under fear of punishment. Many cities, including Los Angeles and Richmond, Virginia, have passed bans that prohibit the use of bullhooks because of the pain they inflict on elephants.

Kaamil joins PETA in calling on UniverSoul to follow Ringling Bros.’ lead and agree to end the inhumane use of elephants in its performances.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.