Anti–Animal Circus Ads to Go Up as Opening-Night Protest Draws Near
PETA Triumphs Against Transit Authority’s Attempted Censorship, Will Run Ads Starring TLC’s Chilli
For Immediate Release:
August 12, 2019
Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382
Armed with signs proclaiming, “Circuses: No Fun for Animals” and “End Cruel Animal Acts Now,” a group of PETA supporters will descend on UniverSoul Circus’ opening-night performance at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex on Tuesday.
When: Tuesday, August 13, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro
The action follows PETA’s successful pushback against the Greensboro Transit Authority’s (GTA) refusal to run the group’s anti-circus ad on its buses. After PETA pointed out that rejecting the ad for “shed[ding] a negative light on a community event that the City is hosting” violated the group’s constitutional right to free speech, the GTA relented. PETA’s ad starring TLC’s Chilli will be up throughout the transit authority’s transfer center station on Meadowview Road.
“Today’s public respects wildlife and has no interest in seeing miserable, abused animals performing stupid tricks,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Animal Law Jared Goodman. “PETA is encouraging kind people to stay away from UniverSoul until the circus embraces an animal-free future.”
A new eyewitness video shows a camel being punched after apparently getting spooked while being used for rides. Workers continued placing children on the distressed animal’s back, putting both them and the camel in danger. Animal control officers have also documented numerous animal welfare issues at UniverSoul Circus, including those involving an injured zebra, wounded camels, and a wounded elephant. In two separate instances, zebras have escaped from the circus and run through city streets.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
