Festival Cancels Rides on Nosey, an Abused Elephant

Hugo Liebel of the notorious Liebel Family Circus planned to rent out long-suffering elephant Nosey for rides at The Blue Water Fest in Port Huron, Michigan. But after the festival’s organizers heard from PETA about the circus’s long history of violations of the Animal Welfare Act, they told Liebel that they had a jumbo-sized problem with him exploiting Nosey at their fair.

The Blue Water Fest organizers pulled the plug just a few hours after PETA’s action alert went out and they started hearing from our supporters. Organizers told PETA that they previously had no idea about Liebel’s history of animal abuse.

And in addition to The Blue Water Fest, the Western Michigan Fair in Ludington, Michigan, also confirmed that it will not host rides on Nosey when it begins later this month.

And for good reason: Liebel has been repeatedly cited and penalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for denying veterinary care to Nosey, chaining her so tightly that she could barely move, and allowing dangerous, unsupervised public contact with her, even though she attacked a worker and sent him to the emergency room in 2004.

Despite a growing list of federal violations, Liebel continues to deny Nosey the care that she needs and continues to transport her all over the country, forcing her to give rides. This week, he dragged her to the Berlin Fair in Marne, Michigan, where she is currently giving rides. Please continue to be a voice for Nosey by e-mailing the fair’s organizers and asking that they cancel the rides.