Group Rallies Its Supporters to Urge Venue to Follow Rio Rancho's Lead and Refuse to Do Business With Notorious Circus
For Immediate Release:
May 21, 2012
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Albuquerque, N.M. -- As Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus continues its attempts to drag its shows to New Mexico, PETA has fired off an urgent letter to Tingley Coliseum officials to ask them not to host the performances that were turned away by the city of Rio Rancho, which blocked Ringling from performing at the Santa Ana Star Center on the grounds that the circus—which recently paid $270,000, the largest fine in circus history, to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA)—did not qualify for a permit under Rio Rancho's new animal welfare ordinance, which prohibits circuses with recent AWA violations or USDA settlements. PETA is asking its members in New Mexico to encourage Tingley Coliseum officials to keep Ringling out of Albuquerque. The group has also sent a letter of thanks to Rio Rancho officials for their kind decision.
"Tingley Coliseum has the power to show that animal abuse does not belong in New Mexico," says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. "All Tingley Coliseum has to do is follow Rio Rancho's excellent example and refuse to host a circus that beats and shocks elephants and tigers into performing."
As shown in PETA's new video exposé of Ringling, narrated by Alec Baldwin, Ringling Bros. trainers use steel-tipped bullhooks—devices that resemble fireplace pokers—to beat, jab, and hook elephants in order to keep them under control and force them to perform tricks. In the last year alone, the USDA has cited Ringling for several AWA violations, including for failing to give veterinary care to an elephant named Sarah, who collapsed while being forced into a boxcar.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.