Dozens of Protesters Draw Attention to Ringling's Abuse of Animals
For Immediate Release:
April 14, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Norfolk, Va. -- A giant inflatable "elephant" will lead PETA's contingent of nearly 100 protesters on Thursday circling the Norfolk Scope, as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus prepares for its opening show there. Wearing a headdress that reads, "Ringling Beats Animals," the "elephant" will represent animals who are abused by the circus.
When: Thursday, April 14, 10 a.m.
Where: Norfolk Scope, 215 E. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk
"Hampton Roads residents wouldn't go within a mile of the big top if they knew that elephants used by Ringling suffer a lifetime of abuse," says PETA campaigns manager Lindsay Rajt. "As infants, elephants are torn away from their mothers and beaten into submission for nothing but a lifetime of cheap tricks."
PETA has released dozens of compelling photos taken inside Ringling's Florida training center by a veteran elephant handler. The photos expose how still-nursing baby elephants are forcefully trained after having been captured rodeo-style and dragged away from their mothers. The baby elephants scream and struggle frantically as they are wrestled, 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 for up to a year. Since 1998, at least four babies born at Ringling's breeding center have died and countless others have suffered serious injuries during training or performances.
For more information, please visit RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.
