Elephant Death in Crash Prompts Call to End Elephants in Circuses

For Immediate Release:
April 2, 2018

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Associate Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Rachel Mathews in response to the circus truck crash in Spain that left one elephant dead and two others injured:

This truck crash that killed an elephant and injured two others is just the latest reason to demand the end of elephant use and abuse in circuses: Circus trains have crashed; animals have been trapped inside overturned trailers; elephants have been used as living car jacks, chained by all four legs, and beaten with bullhooks, causing their feet to rot and their brains to fry; tigers have been left without water while their handlers slept nearby; and one tiger last summer was shot after she escaped at a truck stop. Animals in circuses are caged and chained for the majority of their lives and forced to perform tricks under threat of punishment, which is why PETA asserts that the only way to ensure their safety is to end their use in circuses altogether. PETA is also calling for an examination by police of the driver’s record and public disclosure of veterinary care for the surviving elephants.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment.”