On Friday afternoon, a Fulton County Superior Court judge in Atlanta, Georgia, dismissed a complaint filed by Soul Circus, Inc., (aka “UniverSoul Circus“) against PETA for alerting the public to the neglect endured by Nosey, a solitary elephant owned by Hugo Liebel who was used by UniverSoul in some of its shows earlier this year. Two Decades of Abuse As … Read more »
Mitchel Kalmanson, who supplies tigers for the UniverSoul Circus, is in hot water with the law … again. The latest available U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report details several serious violations, including cramming tigers into cages where they couldn’t even stand upright and calling in a veterinarian with no experience with big cats whatsoever to assess … Read more »
Piccadilly Circus has a long, sordid history of cruelty to animals. So when the New York Equestrian Center scheduled a performance by the circus, representatives from animal protection group Long Island Orchestrating for Nature (LION) presented the center with loads of information about Piccadilly’s pervasive abuse and neglect of animals. blieusong | cc by 2.0 LION shared … Read more »
After a whistleblower came forward with a report of pervasive animal abuse and neglect at Piccadilly Circus, PETA filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requesting an investigation. According to its recently released inspection report, the USDA cited Piccadilly’s general manager for several of the violations that were flagged in PETA’s complaint and … Read more »
Two-time Tony winner and Oscar nominee Viola Davis has sent a letter to state legislators in Rhode Island urging them to support proposed legislation to prevent elephants traveling with circuses from enduring bullhook abuse and long periods of chaining. Davis was raised in Central Falls, Rhode Island, and attended Rhode Island College. Smallest State Tackles a Huge Problem The … Read more »
The week isn’t going so well for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The company had been benefiting from online promotions through Travelzoo, a site that offers discounts and deals on travel and entertainment. But that was before PETA and its supporters stepped in. iStockphoto.com/nickfallows PETA sent Travelzoo information about Ringling’s long history of animal abuse. We … Read more »
At PETA, we know that some rules (such as being quiet in meetings) are meant to be broken, but anti-cruelty laws should never be ignored. That’s why when we heard that Ringling Bros. was going to Columbus, Ohio, and taking elephants and abusive bullhooks with it, we wrote to the mayor asking him to enforce … Read more »
PETA and the Animal Legal Defense Fund have submitted comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) urging the agency not to issue an Endangered Species Act breeding permit to California-based Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT)—Hollywood’s number one provider of elephants for movies and TV—citing the exhibitor’s sordid history of animal abuse. PETA will also … Read more »
With cruelty as blatant as that displayed at Piccadilly Circus (also known as Garden Bros. Circus), it is no surprise that the circus is the subject of a whistleblower’s report that provides the basis for a PETA complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The complaint details allegation of the circus’s habitual physical abuse of … Read more »
Great Britain has united against circuses that force wild animals to perform. With the vast majority of the British public behind them, the members of Parliament voted unanimously to ban wild-animal acts in circuses in England and Wales. iStockphoto.com/GlobalP Pressure has been mounting for the past few years for the government to make this historic move, … Read more »
Now here’s some real appointment television: On Earth Day—Monday, April 22—at 7 p.m. EDT (check your local listings for the time in your region), HBO will premiere the documentary An Apology to Elephants. Watch a preview here. Getting the Word Out—and the Story Straight In his review, David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle says … Read more »
Police are investigating the shooting of an elephant used by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The incident reportedly occurred outside the Bancorp South Arena in Tupelo, Mississippi, early on the morning of April 9. Knowing Ringling’s shady history when it comes to animals (some years ago, a trainer traveling with Ringling shot a … Read more »
Less than a year after a security guard reported the abuse of a chained elephant by a bullhook-wielding Ringling Bros. circus handler in Colorado, an employee at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum—a venue where PETA captured Ringling bullhook use on video as part of a 2009 undercover investigation—has reported more bullhook abuse during Ringling’s March 2013 tour there. PETA’s … Read more »
A source close to John Cuneo, the owner of infamous circus supplier Hawthorn Corporation, has leaked information to PETA that we hope will convince the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to revoke Hawthorn’s exhibitor license permanently and to seek criminal charges against Cuneo as well as Lance Ramos, an unlicensed exhibitor who has repeatedly abused and … Read more »
