Teen Activist Leads PETA Rally in Honor of 'Elephant Awareness Day'
For Immediate Release:
August 2, 2012
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Los Angeles -- Led by Juliette West, the 16-year-old subject of the award-winning documentary How I Became an Elephant, and joined by an "elephant," PETA members of all ages will surround City Hall with signs that read, "Be an Ele-Friend, Ban Exotic-Animal Acts," as they urge the Los Angeles City Council to ban traveling acts that use exotic animals, including elephants. The action marks Elephant Awareness Day in Los Angeles, which the city declared in West's honor.
When: Friday, August 3, 9 a.m.
Where: City Hall, 14410 Sylvan St. (near the intersection with Sylmar Avenue), Van Nuys
Circuses such as Ringling Bros., which is currently traveling throughout California, force elephants to perform tricks by using whips, electric prods, and bullhooks—devices resembling fireplace pokers with sharp steel hooks at the end. The Los Angeles County Superior Court recently declared using them to be "abusive and inappropriate." When exotic animals are not in the spotlight, they are used in traveling acts or kept chained or locked away in cages, deprived of everything that's natural and important to them.
"By banning traveling exotic-animal acts, the Los Angeles City Council could stop cruel circuses such as Ringling Bros.—which drags beaten, whipped, and chained lame elephants into the city every year—at the city limits," says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. "PETA is joining Angelenos of all ages in urging the city to take a firm stand against cruelty to animals."
For more information, please visit PETA's website RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.