Circus-Free Orillia Shriners Nab Big Thanks From PETA

Shrine Club Replaces Circus Fundraiser With Food and Drink Festival

For Immediate Release:
February 6, 2017

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

A box of delicious elephant-shaped vegan chocolates is on its way from PETA to the Orillia Shrine Club as thanks for its decision to replace its traditional animal-circus fundraiser with an Oktoberfest event this year.

“At a time when Ringling Bros. is shutting down and people everywhere are demanding that circuses go animal-free, the Orillia Shrine Club’s decision to nix its circus fundraiser is right on-trend,” says PETA Foundation Associate Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Rachel Mathews. “PETA is recognizing the Orillia Shriners for demonstrating how to raise money to help kids without hurting any lions, tigers, or elephants.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—has documented that circus handlers routinely whip tigers and jab elephants with bullhooks (weapons that resemble a fireplace poker with a sharp metal hook on one end). Animal-based circuses keep animals on the road for up to 50 weeks a year, and when they aren’t being used in performances, they’re usually shackled in chains or locked inside cramped cages. Many animal exhibitors with Shrine circuses—such as the notorious Tarzan Zerbini Circus, the Carden family, and Carson & Barnes Circus—have lengthy records of violating animal-welfare laws.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.