‘Lion and ‘Tiger’ to Roar in Triumph at Ringling’s Last-Ever Performance

PETA Members Will Cheer the End of the Cruelest Show on Earth, Send Message That There’s Still Work to Be Done

For Immediate Release:
May 22, 2017

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

What:    Ringling Bros. circus’s curtain will rise and fall for the very last time on Sunday, and a lively “lion” and triumphant “tiger” will lead a coalition of local animal rights groups—including PETA, Long Island Orchestrating for Nature, and CompassionWorks International—in a spirited victory rally for the occasion. Demonstrators will celebrate the demise of the saddest show on Earth with signs reading, “Bye, Bye, Animal Abusers” and “Animal Entertainment Is a Dying Industry.”

When:    Sunday, May 21, 6 p.m.

Where:    Outside Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turnpike (near the intersection with Glenn Curtiss Boulevard), Uniondale

“After 36 years of PETA protests, the tide of public opinion has clearly turned against forcing broken and battered wild animals to perform circus tricks,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “As Ringling’s curtain drops, PETA is urging families to boycott all other circuses that continue to feature archaic animal acts.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—ran a relentless campaign against Ringling that included video and photographic exposés, creative ads, celebrity appeals, successful efforts to urge every major sponsor to drop the circus, online activism, support for local legislation, and thousands of demonstrations to show the public that Ringling beats animals and forces them to perform tricks out of fear of punishment. With Ringling taken care of, PETA has upped the ante on the remaining circuses that still use animal acts until they either adapt to the times or go the way of Ringling.

For more information, please visit RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.