PETA’s ‘Crippled Elephant’ to Confront Potential Circusgoers

Protesters Will Spotlight Ringling’s Violent Treatment of Baby Elephants

For Immediate Release:
June 4, 2014

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

An “elephant” on crutches wearing a “bloody” bandage around the head will lead PETAprotesters as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus prepares for its show in Colorado Springs on Thursday, opening day. The protesters will display signs that read, “This Is Ringling Baby-Elephant Training,” emblazoned with compelling photos taken inside Ringling’s training center. The photos expose how baby elephants used by Ringling are stretched out, slammed to the ground, gouged with steel-tipped bullhooks, and shocked with electric prods. These abusive sessions go on for several hours a day in order to force the baby elephants to learn to perform circus tricks out of fear of punishment. Actor Alec Baldwin has narrated a video exposé that focuses on how circuses abuse elephants.

When:   Thursday, June 5, 11:45 a.m.

Where:  At the intersection of Tejon St. and Pikes Peak Ave., Colorado Springs

“Colorado Springs residents would run screaming from the big top if they knew how baby elephants are violently forced to perform difficult, confusing, and sometimes painful tricks,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel Delcianna Winders. “Since children love animals, the last place that parents and grandparents should take them to is the circus.”

In late 2011, Ringling Bros. paid the largest fine in circus history—$270,000—for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

For more information, please visit PETA’s website RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.