DP Management Vows Not to Host Wild-Animal Circuses

Company Nabs Box of Elephant-Shaped Vegan Chocolates From PETA in Thanks for Compassionate Decision

For Immediate Release:
June 26, 2018

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

A box of delicious elephant-shaped vegan chocolates is on its way from PETA to Omaha’s DP Management for its commitment to not hosting animal circuses at its properties. The announcement comes after PETA contacted the company about a Carson & Barnes Circus performance in May at Leavenworth Plaza Mall, which is owned by DP Management. Carson & Barnes has racked up more than 100 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, and it agreed to pay a $16,000 federal fine in 2016 after three elephants escaped from a show and ran amok for nearly an hour.

“A life of shackles and shopping malls is no life at all for the sensitive wild animals who are denied everything that’s natural and important to them by money-hungry circuses,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “As audiences nationwide shun circuses that still force animals to perform, PETA is urging other companies to follow DP Management’s kind and business-savvy example by rejecting all animal acts.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—notes that elephants, lions, bears, and other wild animals used in circuses and other exhibits are often torn away from their mothers as babies and confined to filthy cages or trailers when not on stage. Trainers force animals to perform confusing and uncomfortable tricks by whipping or electroshocking them or (in the case of elephants) striking them with bullhooks—weapons resembling a fireplace poker with a sharp metal hook on one end. Animals used for entertainment commonly suffer from chronic health problems as well as psychological disorders—including neurotic behavior such as swaying, head-bobbing, and pacing—and die prematurely.

DP Management is part of a long list of companies—including CBL & Associates Properties, GGP, Macerich, and Simon Property Group—as well as more than 620 malls nationwide that have banned wild-animal acts.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.