Alright, first off, we’d like to say PETA isn’t wrong – the treatment of animals at the circus is often terrible and disheartening.
Alright, first off, we’d like to say PETA isn’t wrong – the treatment of animals at the circus is often terrible and disheartening.
The ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ has since promised to retire one of their biggest attractions, Asian Elephants, even earlier than originally planned, with the 42 animals heading to a sanctuary in Florida by May of this year.
But before we get there, the folks at PETA have created a piece of nightmare fuel to help ruin any love children might have had for Ringling as seen in the video below:
Yea, I’m not sure that’s the best way to inform kids about the dangers of elephant captivity, but PETA isn’t really known for the subtly. And if the mission was to make kids hate or be terrified of the circus, mission accomplished.
EITHER WAY, Ringling Bros. are in town this weekend and the local group Richmond Friends of Animals are planning a protest to counter the show.
“More and more Richmonders are choosing cruelty-free entertainment, in which no animals are beaten with whips or caged in boxcars to perform cheap tricks,” said RFA spokesperson Laura Cascada in a statement sent out announcing tonight’s protest. “We’ll be out at the Coliseum every year until Ringling realizes that it can ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’ the crowd with human acrobats, musicians, and jugglers who choose their career–not wild animals.”
Richmond actually has a ban on “bull hooks,” the devices used to heard and train elephants. The law was passed last year after work was done by groups like PETA and the local SPCA who supported the measure.
“People are no longer willing to allow the harsh treatment of elephants to continue just so that people can have a few moments of pleasure that will be forgotten as soon as the popcorn has been digested,” Robin Starr, chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA, told the TD back when the law was passed.
Ellie, the terrifying, dream-ruining, robotic elephant, will also be on the scene tonight so if you want to really hammer home how sad circus elephants are, please bring your kids and be ready to stay up with them for the next few nights as they cry themselves to sleep.
The protest starts at 6 PM at the Richmond Coliseum (at the intersection of N 7th St and E Clay St).
