Live-Tweeting of Circus Highlights Cruelty Under the Bright Lights
Ringling Bros. circus got quite a shock at its opening-night performance in Bakersfield, California, when PETA was in the audience live-tweeting the performance in order to help circusgoers look beyond the spectacle and bright lights and remember that the tricks they paid to see animals perform are possible only after breaking baby elephants’ spirits by binding and beating them and “training” big cats by hitting them with sticks.
Ringling goes to great lengths to hide the cruelty that it inflicts on animals—such as using Wonder Dust, a gray powder, to conceal bloody bullhook wounds on elephants. But thanks to social media, it’s getting harder and harder for Ringling to hide its abuse.
Here’s what we found:
What You Can Do
Please help PETA remind people that baby elephants are beaten and bound in order to train them to perform tricks by sharing this exposé on Facebook. And never attend a circus that uses animals.
