Centro Multicultural Drops Circus Sponsorship

PETA Sends Oakland County Organization Vegan Brownies as Thanks for Cutting Ties With Cruel Kelly Miller Circus

For Immediate Release:
July 26, 2017

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

A box of vegan brownies is on its way to Pontiac’s Centro Multicultural La Familia for canceling its plans to sponsor the Kelly Miller Circus, which is scheduled to perform in the city next month. After learning from PETA that Kelly Miller has a long history of contracting with abusive exhibitors for its cruel animal acts, an official with the center told PETA, “We will not be involved with any circus events of any sort moving forward.”

PETA is now calling on the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Deputies for Kids nonprofit organization to drop its sponsorship of Kelly Miller and on the Wisner Memorial Stadium to cancel its plans to host the outfit.

“Centro Multicultural La Familia was quick to recognize that a life of being dragged around the country in shackles is no life at all for elephants and other highly sensitive, intelligent animals,” says PETA Foundation Associate Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Rachel Mathews. “PETA is calling on this circus’s remaining partners to join the center in pledging not to do business with any circus that threatens animals into performing tricks.”

In its correspondence with Centro Multicultural La Familia, PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—noted that Kelly Miller’s elephant trainer, Joey Frisco, was caught on video hooking and yanking elephants night after night while he worked at the now-defunct Ringling Bros. circus. The elephants used in the Kelly Miller Circus are provided by the Carden family, whose companies were caught failing to provide an elephant, who had open wounds, with veterinary care and allowing two elephant escapes, among other violations. And in 2015, a Kelly Miller exhibitor was cited for using an electric prod on zebras and camels during a performance.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.