There aren’t many folks in America who don’t at least know there’s controversy surrounding circuses that use animals. So it always surprises me when a company like Denny’s jumps into bed with the animal abusing freak show that is Ringling Bros. circus. But, it surprised me even more when Denny’s CEO Nelson Marchioli refused to … Read more »
Update: There was a great investigative report on this issue that was on KHOU-TV this week. Check it out here. Our Captive Animals department has been working overtime on a case involving two elephants named Tina and Jewel. The elephants belong to Cole Bros., a circus that was assessed a $10,000 penalty by the U.S. … Read more »
nytimes/Creative Commons After years of urging from PETA, the Alaska Zoo just announced that they will be sending Maggie, a 27-year-old African elephant, to the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California! Maggie was captured in Zimbabwe in 1981 during a cull, and likely watched as her entire family was slaughtered. She has lived at … Read more »
As lawyers go, Ringling Bros. has some pretty fancy, expensive ones, but despite their best efforts last week, they couldn’t keep the circus from being dragged into the courtroom once again, this time on charges of (surprise, surprise) elephant abuse. Judge Emmet Sullivan announced Thursday that a last ditch attempt by Ringling’s attorneys to hold … Read more »
Editions/Creative Commons Hans Ruesch, author of the bestselling book against animal experiments Slaughter of the Innocent, has died at the age of 94. Born in Italy, Ruesch shared a love of auto racing with PETA’s president: Between 1932 and 1937 he won 27 Grand Prix races. In 1937 he wrote the novel Gladiators, which was … Read more »
My friend and colleague Jason Bayless has been on tour with Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus for three long months now, and I figured it was about time we had a look back at his tireless efforts to make sure that anyone who goes to a Ringling event in any state gets the … Read more »
PETA’s Circus Specialist RaeLeann Smith, and former Ringling employee Archele Hundley, just got back from the National Conference of State Legislators, where they spoke with over 80 state legislators who heard Archele’s account of daily abuse at the circus. The pair also distributed over 400 Training & Tragedy DVDs to this influential group. One high … Read more »
Seriously. If you have a store that could use a kickass elephant display for a few months, tell us where, why, and perhaps we can deliver it to you. It stands about 5½ feet tall when on its base, and about 3 feet wide. Ella weighs 150 lbs and the base an additional 700 pounds. … Read more »
Jason Bayless, our Lead Circus Monitor (i.e., the dude whose nerve-wracking job it is to follow Ringling Bros. around everywhere and document their abuse of animals), is about to embark on tour with the circus next week, so we fitted him out with a nice new set of wheels that will let circusgoers know exactly … Read more »
Spotlightingnews/Creative Commons A photo snapped by paparazzi of everyone’s favorite ex-Spice Girl, Victoria Beckham, buying a copy of Rory Freedman’s Skinny Bitch has sparked a massive spike in sales of the diet book that has been described as “a no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous.” … Read more »
We caught up with Weeds star Kevin Nealon last week to shoot a little PSA in our veggie testimonial series, in which vegetarian celebrities talk about what got them to make the switch to a meatless diet. At the end of the shoot, Kevin wanted to take a few moments to talk about the ridiculous … Read more »
Just a quick bit of good news for you to start off your Tuesday: According to last week’s Taipei Times, a new amendment to Taiwan’s Wildlife Conservation Law means that animal circuses are on the way out in Taiwan. When interviewed about the progressive new law, legislator Tien Chiu-Chin said, “Circuses do not need animals … Read more »
Hope you’re having a good “Be Kind to Animals Week” Thursday. Remember the Hawthorn elephant campaign from a couple of years ago? If not, the short version is that after extensive negotiations over many months, a circus operation called the Hawthorn Corporation agreed to relinquish twelve elephants to a sanctuary, resulting in the single largest … Read more »
Dulary arrives at the sanctuary Some great elephant news on two fronts for you today, as two famous elephants have found new places to live. The first, an elephant named Dulary from the Philadelphia Zoo, has been released to a sanctuary to spend the rest of her life following the zoo’s decision to close down … Read more »
I was pretty much blown away by The Station Agent when that movie came out a couple of years ago, and I’ve been a fan of the movie’s star, Peter Dinklage, ever since. Peter went on to have a recurring role in Nip/Tuck, and he’s also landed the part of Trumpkin in the next Narnia … Read more »
