Video: PETA Responds to Elephants’ Having to Hold up Tractor-Trailer

When a tractor-trailer carrying three elephants who were being forced to perform in the Shrine Circus got stuck in mud on the side of a Louisiana highway, it appears that the driver did what circuses do best. In the photos from the scene, the driver seemingly used a long, rod-like instrument that bears striking resemblance to a bullhook to get the elephants out of the truck and onto the roadside, then made them hold the truck up to keep it from tipping over. The owner of the Shrine Circus quickly did damage control, claiming that the elephants knew that the truck was stuck and voluntarily hopped out and went to work holding it up. But the photos from the scene tell a different story:

In my experience, volunteer work doesn’t usually involve someone standing behind me holding a weapon that resembles a fireplace poker.