Circus Holding Event Has Abysmal History of Animal Welfare Violations
For Immediate Release:
January 16, 2013
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Columbus, Ind. -- Today, PETA lodged an urgent complaint with Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard Armory, urging him to forbid a boxing match between a human and a kangaroo put on by the Stardust Circus, which is scheduled to perform at the National Guard Armory in Columbus on January 19 and 20. 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 a Columbus city ordinance prohibits "combat between animals or between animals and humans." PETA also asks Umbarger 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 abuse.
"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. "Terrorizing a kangaroo is obviously cruel—and in Columbus, it also appears to be illegal."
Since 2005, Star Family Circus, which puts on Stardust Circus, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for nearly two dozen Animal Welfare Act violations, including some involving kangaroos, such as 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 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.