Protesting ‘Tigers’ to Call Out UniverSoul Circus for Cruel Animal Acts

PETA Points to Exhibitors’ Citations for Filthy Conditions and Lack of Veterinary Care

For Immediate Release:
September 27, 2016

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

On Wednesday, three PETA supporters in tiger costumes will descend on UniverSoul Circus’ opening-night performance at Chicago’s Washington Park. PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—notes that UniverSoul leases the tiger act used in its shows from notorious big-cat exhibitor Mitchel Kalmanson, who has been cited repeatedly for failure to provide veterinary care and for excessive confinement, including one citation last year for holding tigers in foul-smelling, maggot-infested cages without exercise.

Where:                Washington Park (at the intersection of E. 51^st Street and S. Cottage Grove Avenue), Chicago

When:                  Wednesday, September 28, 7 p.m. sharp

“The tigers, elephants, and other animals used by UniverSoul Circus are imprisoned, denied everything that’s natural and important to them, and bullied into performing dangerous stunts under the threat of physical violence,” says PETA Foundation Captive Animal Law Enforcement Associate Director Rachel Mathews. “PETA urges consumers never to buy tickets to circuses that use and abuse animals.”

Actor and author Robbyne Kaamil—whose great-great-grandmother was a plantation slave—wrote and narrated a PETA video last year showing that captive elephants in circuses are stolen from their families and chained like modern-day slaves. She calls on the public to reject this exploitation and to “end slavery everywhere, anywhere, in all its forms, for all living beings.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.