The Big E, a 17-day event held in West Springfield, MA, is the largest fair in the northeast and the 6th largest fair in the nation. But The Big E(xploitation of Animals) is also well known nationally for hosting animal cruelty.  The list of cruel exhibits at the fair is down to just two now, but until there are none we must continue our campaign: 

• Commerford & Son's petting zoo with camel and pony rides 
• Ox & horse pulls

The Big E contracts R.W. Commerford & Sons despite the fact that Commerford owned Beulah, an elephant that collapsed and died at the fair on day three in 2019 due to a serious illness. Commerford has also been involved in three dangerous incidents involving the elephant Minnie, who had attacked and critically injured her handlers, including while children were riding on her. This same company has been cited by the USDA more than 50 times for violations of the minimal animal care standards required by the Animal Welfare Act, as well as incidents and accidents involving children.

Commerford has a long history of animal cruelty and has brought public attention to their callous treatment of confined animals. Their camels and ponies are forced to work 12 hours a day in very unnatural conditions. The ponies can barely move their heads, as they are chained to a revolving wheel. Such archaic animal cruelty does not belong at a family-friendly event. The Big E has been moving in the right direction since Beulah, collapsed and died there in 2019 by removing other wild animals, but domesticated animals are still suffering there. Beulah's death will not be in vain -- we must  continue our campaign until The Big E removes ALL cruel animal exhibits.

Commerford Petting Zoo owned Beulah and has a horrendous history with over 50 USDA Animal Welfare Act violations, as well as numerous accidents and injuries (including children). They also owned another elephant that died in 2019 at a young age. Both elephants were stolen from their parents in the wild when they were babies and suffered decades of abuse and neglect merely for human entertainment. Commerford was even cited for having a 13-year-old attendant handle camel rides. But regardless of the handler, serious injuries can easily occur to a child when sitting on a 1,000-pound abused animal that has been poorly cared for, stressed, and often dehydrated and unhealthy. All of Commerford's animals are poorly cared for and live in very unnatural and stressful conditions year-round. They are shipped very long distances from one event to another in cramped, isolated, and filthy conditions. Some can’t even entirely stretch their bodies when traveling. Many are in poor health due to improper feeding and unhealthy lifestyles. Animals in traveling petting zoos are unable to do natural things that are very important to them physically and emotionally, like running, roaming, having a partner and others of their own kind. They are bored, lonely, depressed, and deprived of freedom.

National Geographic did an excellent article on Commerford Petting Zoo's elephants, their tragic lives and Beulah's and Karen's deaths. Minnie now is the only elephant imprisoned in Commerford 's Zoo who is still alive. Many organizations, including Nonhuman Rights Project, Western Massachusetts Animal Rights Advocates (WMARA), and PETA have been working to send Minnie to an elephant sanctuary. The story makes clear that animal welfare laws are both ineffective and poorly enforced. Such failures are all too common and, sadly, not unexpected, which is exactly why we fight for animal rights and welfare.

Year after year, WMARA, CompassionWorks International, PETA and other organizations have called on The Big E to stop supporting the torment of animals, but it’s responded only with bogus legal threats in an attempt to silence us. In 2018 the fair caused public outrage after a photo of a suffering elephant named Minnie being forced to give rides to fairgoers went viral. The release of that image was followed by a horrifying video showing a handler violently jerking a camel who appeared to be exhausted. PETA—along with over 100,000 concerned citizens—has called for an end to the fair’s cruel animal acts. Beulah’s death should bring even more shame on The Big E and is all the more reason for the fair to stop exploiting animals.

The Big E is also hosting archaic ox and horse pulls again -- which present significant animal welfare and physical safety concerns to the animals. According to Massachusetts Fairs Association rules governing pulling contests, hitting of the face with the goad stick is not allowed. Additionally, animals that are lame are not allowed to compete. These outdated contests involve extreme physical strain, risk of musculoskeletal injuries like torn muscles or fractured legs, and acute stress or exhaustion from forcing animals to lunge massive concrete weights. In this day and age there is no longer a need for such cruelty, thanks to agricultural machinery. An exhibit and demonstration of modern machinery would be much more helpful to farmers nowadays. 

In 2025 an attendee who saw the ox/horse pull wrote a letter to the editor in great distress about the cruelty she witnessed.

Please join us in letting The Big E know that such cruelty has no place at an agricultural fair focused on the beauty and diversity of New England.

Please urge the Big E to stop hosting animal cruelty!  Please sign and share this petition. Thank you!