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Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus: Stop using elephants in your circus
  1. Signatures
    629 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus (+ 2 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus (Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus)
      • Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Feld Entertainment, Inc. (Kenneth Feld)
      • Chief Financial Officer of Feld Entertainment, Inc. (Keith Senglaub)
  2. Created By
    David Nica
    Ridgefield, CT
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

Behind the bright colors and impressive tricks a circus elephant does lies a cruel reality of abuse and overworking.

One of these poor creatures is Sarah, a 54-year-old elephant. She has a chronic condition giving her pus-like discharge in her urine, and an elevated white cell count, and yet her handlers did nothing to treat the infection, dismissing it as unimportant. The USDA cited Ringling for violation of the Animal Welfare Act in response. On August 7, she fell out of a boxcar in Anaheim, California and collapsed onto the ground as her handlers watched. You can help with her struggle here.

An undercover investigation by PETA reveals shocking abuse of circus elephants, as they are beaten, whipped, and hooked on their sensitive skin and ears. A well-made video explains how Ringling breaks the baby elephants to the circus life, taking them from their mothers at birth and having them perform when they are younger than a year old.

The circus can be an enjoyable experience for the entire family, but circuses do not need to abuse animals to entertain. We must remind Ringling there are a wide variety of animal-free circuses available, and if they refuse to opt out of their wild animal program, we will keep this list at hand next time we are considering a circus outing.

Join me in demanding Ringling retire their elephants. These injuisitive, curious creatures deserve a better life. This outdated, barbaric form of entertainment has no place in a free, animal-loving culture of the 21st century.

I encourage you to send a polite but strongly-worded letter to Ringling to  this address: Customer Relations, 8607 Westwood Center Drive, Vienna, VA, 22182. You can call Feld Entertainment at 703-448-4000, or send a fax to 703-448-4100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X7jbxiy29Y
http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2011/07/11/elephants-suffer-as-ringling-flouts-law.aspx
http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-the-usda-remove-the-collapsing-elephant-from-the-ringling-bros-circus
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/circuses.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDMyEHY6ELs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECspj0daAlE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFCZ25w8rCY
http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/circus-cruelty/animal-free-circuses.aspx

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Stop using elephants in your circus

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

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I urge you to cease the use of elephants in your circus program. These noble creatures deserve to be let in the wild or retired to wildlife preserves.

I have made this decision after documented evidence of your continued abuse of your animals. One of these is Sarah, the poor gentle beast whose chronic medical condition you did nothing to treat. The USDA cited Ringling for violating the Animal Welfare Act following this incident. On August 7, the same elephant fell out of a boxcar it was being loaded into in Anaheim, CA, and collapsed onto the ground.

PETA released an abundance of clips showing abuse of elephants, including pricking and beating of their sensitive skin with bull hooks, a procedure you have claimed is "normal training."

Given the wild nature of these inquisitive, curious, intelligent creatures, and your inability to care for them you have displayed, I demand you withdraw elephants from your circus.
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Sincerely,

[Your name]

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