Heads Up! Massive Blow-Up Fez Citing Big-Top Cruelty to Appear Outside Shrine Circus in Marietta
For Immediate Release:
May 16, 2024
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
On Saturday, a pack of PETA supporters will create a hassle with a giant tassel as they inflate a 15-foot-high fez that reads, “Shrine Circuses Abuse Animals,” outside the Jim R. Miller Park & Event Center on the opening day of the Yaarab Shrine Circus. The unmissable plea is a push for the Yaarab Shrine to modernize by keeping animals out of its shows, just as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and other circuses are now doing.
When: Saturday, May 18, 10 a.m.
Where: 1339 Al Bishop Dr. (at the intersection of Al Bishop Drive and Callaway Road S.W.), Marietta
The Yaarab Shrine Circus is one of the last remaining shows that still use wild and exotic animals, who are confined to small crates, kept in shackles, and deprived of any semblance of a natural life. It has partnered with notoriously cruel exhibitors, including Carson & Barnes Circus, which has been cited for more than 100 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and whose head trainer was caught on video attacking elephants with bullhooks—weapons resembling a fireplace poker with a sharp hook on one end.
Some well-intentioned people may think that attending a Shrine circus benefits children. But ticket sales aren’t charitable donations: The profits are generally used to maintain the club’s premises and fund its activities.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
“Cruelty takes center stage at any circus where vulnerable animals are forced to perform demeaning tricks in front of noisy crowds,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on Yaarab Shriners to end these exploitative animal acts, as numerous other Shrines have already done.”
For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
