PETA Pachyderm Ellie to Hand Out Activity Books Following Exposé of Ringling's Violent Treatment of Baby Elephants
For Immediate Release:
May 23, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Mobile, Ala. -- An "elephant" with a bloody bandage wrapped around a wound on her head will greet students as they leave Old Shell Road Elementary School on Monday. The elephant will hand out activity booklets and explain to kids and their parents that animals used by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus—which is scheduled to visit Mobile soon—are jabbed with spiked, metal bullhooks and beaten to make them perform difficult tricks that are confusing and sometimes painful to them.
When: Monday, May 23, 2 p.m.
Where: Old Shell Road Elementary School, 1706 Old Shell Rd. (at the intersection of Old Shell Road and Gilbert Street)
"If children knew how animals suffer behind the scenes, their smiles would quickly turn to frowns," says PETA Director Delcianna Winders.
PETA will be showing parents compelling photos taken inside Ringling's Florida training center by a veteran elephant handler. The photos expose how still-nursing baby elephants, who have been captured rodeo-style and dragged away from their mothers, 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.
For more information, please visit PETA's website RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.