Larger Than Life–Size ‘Crying Elephant’ to Crash Shrine Circus in Lufkin Over Bullhook Beatings
For Immediate Release:
August 23, 2024
Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382
On Tuesday, a herd of PETA supporters will deploy an unmissable 20-foot-tall tear-stained “elephant,” her body covered in bloody gashes and chained to a sign reading, “Elephants Beaten and Chained for Shrine Circuses,” outside the Sharon Shrine Circus at the George H Henderson Expo Center. The protest is part of a multicity tour in which animal defenders will rally at each of the Shrine circus’ stops across Texas, pushing it to get with the times by taking animals out of its shows, just as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has done.
“Elephants belong with their families in nature and should not be exploited by the Shriners, dragged from town to town and forced to perform under the constant threat of a bullhook and other punishment,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on the Sharon Shriners to end these horrifying, old-fashioned, and cruel animal acts, as numerous other Shrines have already done.”
Where: In front of the George H Henderson Expo Center, 1200 Ellen Trout Dr., Lufkin
When: Tuesday, August 27, 5:30 p.m.
Why: The Sharon Shrine Circus is among the last remaining shows that still use wild animals, who are confined to small crates, kept in shackles, and deprived of any semblance of a natural or happy life. The Sharon Shriners routinely partner 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.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
