Protesters Draw Attention to Ringling's Practice of Forcing Lame Elephants to Perform Stunts
For Immediate Release:
March 20, 2012
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Baltimore -- An "elephant" on crutches wearing a bloody bandage around her head will lead PETA protesters on Wednesday as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus prepares for its opening show at 1st Mariner Arena. Holding signs that read, "Free Luna," "Free Siam," and "Free Aussan"—three of the elephants currently traveling with Ringling whose lameness has been verified by a veterinarian with more than 40 years of experience working with captive elephants—the protesters will call on the circus to retire the suffering animals and get them off the road.
When: Wednesday, March 21, 12 noon
Where: 1st Mariner Arena, intersection of W. Baltimore Street and Hopkins Place, Baltimore
The protesters will also display photos taken inside Ringling's training center, which expose how baby elephants are stretched out, slammed to the ground, gouged with steel-tipped bullhooks, and shocked with electric prods in abusive training sessions that go on for several hours.
"Baltimore residents would run screaming from the big top if they knew that elephants used by Ringling suffer a lifetime of abuse," says PETA Director Colleen O'Brien. "As infants, elephants are torn away from their mothers and beaten into submission—and older, arthritic elephants, such as Siam, Aussan, and Luna, are still forced to perform painful contortions despite their ill health."
PETA is also offering a reward of $5,000 to any employee of 1st Mariner Arena who documents any Ringling employee who uses a bullhook on an elephant if that documentation results in a citation.
For more information, please visit PETA's website RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.