Video: Sharon Shrine’s Circus Cruelty Draws PETA Protesters at Rose Festival Parade
For Immediate Release:
October 19, 2024
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
The thorns are out! Earlier today, a trio of PETA protesters swarmed the Sharon Shriners during the Texas Rose Festival Rose Parade at the intersection of Fair Park Drive and W. Front Street with a banner proclaiming, “Sharon Shriners: There’s Nothing Rosy About Abusive Animal Circuses!” They urged the Shriners to stop exploiting elephants and other animals, who endure miserable lives when forced to perform in circus shows. Photos and video footage of the disruption are available here.
The Sharon Shrine Circus is among the last remaining shows that showcase the domination of wild animals, who are confined to small cages or kept in shackles and are deprived of any semblance of a normal, natural, or happy life. The Sharon Shriners 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 violently beating elephants with bullhooks—weapons resembling a fireplace poker with a sharp hook on one end.
“Wild animals deserve to enjoy free, rich lives, not to chained, beaten, and forced to perform stupid tricks at the Shriners’ bidding,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “It’s time the Sharon Shrine rose to the occasion and ended its shameful animal acts, as numerous other Shrines have done.”
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.
The Hadi, Moolah, and Yaarab shrines all dropped elephant acts following PETA campaigns.
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.
