Eyewitness Testimony Reports That Elephant Traveling With Ringling Bros. Circus Staggered, Fell During Loading
For Immediate Release:
August 9, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Ontario, Calif. — Eyewitnesses report that an elephant belonging to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus collapsed while being loaded into a boxcar in Anaheim on Sunday, so PETA has sent an urgent letter to Mayor Paul Leon of Ontario, where the circus has just arrived. In the letter, PETA asks Mayor Leon to require that the animals used by Ringling be immediately inspected by an independent veterinary expert and that Ringling not force the elephant who collapsed or any other ailing animal to perform. Reports indicate that it was Sarah who fell, an elephant whose removal from performances PETA began calling for last month because of her poor physical condition. PETA is also now calling for Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait to prevent future visits from this abusive circus because of a never-ending stream of animal abuses. Demonstrators will protest Ringling's abuse of animals between 6 and 8 p.m. tomorrow, August 10, at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
"If the fallen elephant was indeed Sarah, then this is the latest incident of a sick animal in desperate need of treatment being forced to travel and perform strenuous tricks under threat of the metal-spiked bullhook—one more example of Ringling's complete disregard for the health and well-being of the animals it uses," says PETA Director Delcianna Winders. "Because Ringling won't take proper care of the elephants it forces to perform painful contortions in its shows, we are asking Mayor Leon to use his authority to protect them."
Two independent veterinarians who observed video footage of Ringling's elephant walk and opening-night performance in Los Angeles two weeks ago reported that one of the elephants is lame to the point of being crippled and should not be performing; that an elephant showed evidence of arthritis, one of the leading reasons elephants are euthanized; that an elephant exhibited pelvic lameness; and that an elephant showed shoulder lameness. An elephant biologist who observed these same elephants in May reported similar symptoms, indicating that the ill and ailing elephants are continually forced to perform despite their poor health and without sufficient veterinary treatment.
For more information, please visit RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.