PETA Member in Elephant Costume Leads Musical Protest Over Ringling Bros.' Arrival in Baltimore
For Immediate Release:
March 11, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Baltimore -- Ellie Fitzgerald—PETA's costumed "elephant"—will literally sing the blues over how elephants are torn away from their loving mothers and beaten in order to perform in the circus. Ellie will sing her own songs, including "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" and perform one of Billie Holiday's songs, "Trav'lin' All Alone," as other PETA members hold posters reading, "Circuses Are NO FUN for Animals." Ringling will face further protests when the circus arrives in Baltimore on March 30.
When: Friday, March 11, 12 noon
Where: Northeast corner of E. Pratt and Calvert streets, Baltimore
"Anyone would sing the blues if they were beaten, chained for hours a day, and torn away from their family," says PETA Director Delcianna Winders. "As in 'Trav'lin' All Alone,' the elephants forced to perform with Ringling are truly 'weary and all alone.'"
In the wild, female elephants spend their whole lives with their mothers—but Ringling tears baby elephants away from their mothers while they are still nursing and forces them to hit the road in order to perform in its shows. Elephants in circuses are hauled across the country through all weather extremes for up to 50 weeks a year. They live in isolation and under the constant threat of abuse from trainers who gouge them with steel-tipped bullhooks in order to show them who's "boss."
For more information, please visit PETA's website RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.