Request Follows Politician's Illegal and Dangerous Elephant Ride
For Immediate Release:
March 7, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 757-622-7382
Atlanta — PETA has sent an urgent letter to Mark Williams, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), urging him to immediately revoke Atlanta-based UniverSoul Circus' permit to exhibit wild animals. PETA's request follows the opening of an investigation by the DNR into a February 24 incident in which Clayton County Commissioner Eldrin Bell rode one of the circus's elephants—an illegal act in Georgia. Georgia law requires the DNR's wildlife division to deny, suspend, or revoke the wildlife exhibition permit of any exhibitor who fails to "comply with all laws and regulations relating to handling, care, confinement, and transporting of wildlife."
"Elephant rides are illegal in Georgia, period," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "After a lifetime of beatings, some elephants decide not to take the abuse anymore and run amok, and UniverSoul has shown contempt for Commissioner Bell's safety by putting him atop a potentially dangerous animal."
Elephants handlers discipline elephants by routinely gouging them with steel-tipped bullhooks—weapons that resemble fireplace pokers—causing the animals to become ticking time bombs. The beatings lead to attacks, and the attacks lead to more beatings.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has repeatedly cited UniverSoul animal exhibitors for failure to provide veterinary care, medical records, and adequate space. One UniverSoul exhibitor—Tim Frisco of the Carson & Barnes Circus—was caught on tape viciously attacking elephants with a bullhook until they screamed in pain. The DNR is also investigating the owner of the elephant who was used to give Bell a ride.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.