Ringling Bros. Misleads Ticket Buyers as to How Wild Animals Are Trained, Leaving Out Beatings, Bullhooks, Electric Prods
For Immediate Release:
August 2, 2011
Contact:
Kristin Richards 202-483-7382
Washington — Complete with photos, videos, internal USDA documents, and sworn testimony of Ringling executives, PETA filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today asking the agency to compel Ringling Bros. to stop a deceptive campaign aimed at covering up routine behind-the-scenes cruelty at the circus aimed at avoiding alienating customers.
"Every time Ringling Bros. denies that it beats its animals into performing, it is deliberately lying to the public, and the evidence is irrefutable," says PETA Director Delcianna Winders. "It's up to the FTC to protect consumers from being duped into attending a circus that has repeatedly violated federal animal protection laws."
PETA's complaint spells out the purposely false and misleading ideas presented by Ringling on its websites, in advertisements, and during interviews, which include the following:
- Ringling claims that it uses only "food rewards and words of praise" to train its elephants and that "physical abuse" is "strictly prohibited." By Ringling's own admissions, trainers "teach" by striking the elephants with bullhooks (heavy rods with a sharp metal hook and a point on one end that resemble fireplace pokers), by shocking them with electric prods, and by chaining them.
- Ringling claims that its shows include only animals who are "comfortable with the routines and performing." Video footage taken backstage by PETA undercover investigators at Ringling performances shows how trainers use bullhooks to constantly threaten the animals into performing out of fear of punishment.
- Ringling claims that its elephant training is "simply a matter of encouraging the elephants to do what comes naturally on cue to music." No elephant in the wild dances in a conga line. Ringling rips baby elephants away from their mothers, chains them for hours a day in order to "break" them, drags them into unnatural positions with ropes and chains, and stabs them to force them to stay in position.
PETA's full FTC complaint is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA's website RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.