Circus Holding Event Has Abysmal History of Animal Welfare Violations
For Immediate Release:
January 15, 2013
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Natchez, Miss. -- PETA lodged an urgent complaint Maj. Gen. Augustus L. Collins, adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard Armory, urging him to forbid a kangaroo boxing act put on by the Star Family Circus, which is scheduled to perform at the National Guard Armory in Natchez from January 18 to 21. In the complaint, PETA points out that forcing kangaroos to box with humans is stressful to the naturally gentle animals, that kangaroos kept for such events have contracted illnesses and died, and that fighting animals is forbidden under Mississippi law, as is hosting such a fight. PETA also asks Collins to follow the lead of the Arkansas National Guard, which called off another circus's performances in four cities after learning of its appalling record of animal care.
"Forcing kangaroos to box should have gone out with the cruel carnivals and 'freak shows' of the early 20th century," says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. "Restraining and terrorizing a kangaroo is obviously cruel—and in Mississippi, it also appears to be illegal."
Mississippi law states that "[i]t shall be the duty of any policeman or other officer of the law, county or municipal, to enter into any such place kept for such purpose, and to arrest each and every person concerned or participating therein."
Since 2005, Star Family Circus has been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for nearly two dozen Animal Welfare Act violations involving kangaroos, including failing to provide a kangaroo with adequate veterinary care and failing to house a kangaroo in a structurally sound facility that protects the animal from injury. Two kangaroos used by a different exhibitor for cruel boxing matches have died while touring—one kangaroo from complications of a deadly bacterial disease called "lumpy jaw," which can result from extreme crowding, poor hygiene and diet, and stressful conditions.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.