End Animal Suffering at The Big E!
The Issue
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. It is especially upsetting that Sea Lion Splash is back this year. In 2012 we protested them at The Big E and they haven't returned since then. The list of cruel exhibits at the fair has been decreasing, but until we must continue our campaign until there are NONE:
- Sea Lion Splash
- Commerford & Son's petting zoo with camel and pony rides
- Ox & horse pulls
*** DISTURBING PICTURE OF A CAMEL OWNED BY COMMERFORD PETTING ZOO LOOKING SICKLY ON THE LAST DAY OF THE BIG E WITH A GOAT STANDING ON IT (was reported to USDA):
Animal exhibitors touring the fair circuit follow a tight schedule. The sheer logistics of fulfilling multiple contracts does not allow for downtime to let animals rest or exercise or to attend to sick or injured animals. It’s impossible to know how many animals suffer and die en route from fair to fair, because the caravans are constantly on the move, and for the most part, no one is watching. The USDA oversees traveling animal shows, but with fewer than 100 inspectors covering the country, it’s virtually impossible to regularly monitor these exhibitors. Innumerable small-town venues lack a veterinarian with expertise in exotic animals, and animals who are ill or injured may go untreated. Many animals are inexpensive to procure, making it cheaper to replace them than to pay for veterinary care or lose time attending to a sick animal.
SEA LION SPLASH:
This wretched traveling sea lion show, with many Animal Welfare Act (USDA) violations - https://www.roadsidezoonews.org/post/sea-lion-splash-cited-for-six-violations-of-the-animal-welfare-act claims that their animals were acquired as “beached sea lions who were unable to be returned to the wild due to age or injuries.” Legitimate animal rescuers never subject their animals to the stress and discomfort of public display. Animals used in traveling acts are forced to endure grueling travel schedules, intense confinement, irregular feeding, lack of exercise, extreme noise, and constant interaction with humans simply to provide “entertainment.” The animals live in a continual state of unease that is both physically and psychologically harmful.
In their natural habitats, sea lions swim long distances, establish territories, seek out mates, and raise families. As props in silly shows and photo sessions, all of their natural behaviors are completely thwarted. Taken from their ocean home, the performing sea lions of “Sea Lion Splash” are relegated to swimming endless circles in small, barren concrete tanks and to performing cheap tricks such as dancing, and playing “catch.” The Sea Lion Splash sea lions live in tiny pools when they’re not performing.
See footage here:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=434519841948904
PETA notes that the current owner of Sea Lion Splash has been cited multiple times by federal authorities for violating the Animal Welfare Act, including for dilapidated facilities that exposed animals to possible injuries, a lack of enough space for the animals to make species-typical movements, and multiple instances of failing to provide them with adequate veterinary care. In 2022, a sea lion died after apparently sustaining a laceration from exposed screws and sharp edges in the tank.
***UPDATE: Four sea lions died in under three months! Bruce, Mahi, Sake and Marina all died between June and August 2026, right before The Big E, in the care of Sea Lion Splash/FL Sea Lion Encounters, an unaccredited traveling circus operating out of Harper, Texas, and Myakka City, Florida.
Official causes of death, from NOAA's records:
Bruce, 23: asphyxiation from a tracheal obstruction by an infiltrating lipoma (a fatty tumor grew into his windpipe and slowly suffocated him)
Mahi, 15: pulmonary edema (her lungs filled with fluid)
Sake, 14: pulmonary edema (her lungs filled with fluid; she died the same day as Mahi)
Marina, 12: acute stress hypothermia (her body temperature dropped to a fatal level)
Mahi, Sake, Marina, Salsa and Easton came from Miami Seaquarium and Gulf World, two parks owned by The Dolphin Company. Both parks are no longer in operation, and The Dolphin Company is under criminal investigation for animal cruelty by state law enforcement agencies in Florida. When The Dolphin Company filed for bankruptcy, all five sea lions were donated to Sea Lion Splash/FL Sea Lion Encounters.
Now that Mahi, Sake and Marina are dead, Easton, 15, and Salsa, about 11, are the only sea lions from The Dolphin Company's parks that are still alive, both at the Myakka City location (DBA FL Sea Lion Encounters). Salsa is a rescued wild sea lion that NOAA declared non-releasable and placed in human care. Both are dangerously thin and live in crumbling backyard pools, where the filthy water is giving them skin lesions and eye problems.
Official complaints have been filed with USDA and NOAA.
Help save Salsa and Easton:
**Email USDA: AnimalCare@usda.gov
**Email NOAA: contact.nmfs.ole.sed@noaa.gov
Tell them to move Salsa and Easton to a safe facility NOW!
COMMERFORD PETTING ZOO:
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 must not be in vain -- we must continue our campaign until The Big E removes ALL cruel animal exhibits.
Commerford Petting Zoo also owned another elephant, Karen, who died in 2019 at a young age of kidney failure, but her death was not revealed to the public until months later. 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), CompassionWorks International, and PETA have been working to send Minnie to an elephant sanctuary. Nonhuman Rights Project even filed a lawsuit in 2017 to free Commerford's elephants, Beulah, Karen and Minnie.
Year after year, WMARA and other organizations have called on The Big E to stop supporting the torment of animals, but it has 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. In 2018 CompassionWorks International filed a USDA complaint against Commerford Petting Zoo for violations recorded. That was a prelude to Beulah’s death in 2019, which resulted in minimal formal consequences, highlighting the USDA's failures. This long horrendous history proves the ineffectiveness and insufficiency of existing animal welfare laws, and the appalling details of the Commerford Zoo’s imprisonment and exploitation of Karen, Beulah, and Minnie.
OXEN/HORSE PULLS:
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!
6,041
The Issue
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. It is especially upsetting that Sea Lion Splash is back this year. In 2012 we protested them at The Big E and they haven't returned since then. The list of cruel exhibits at the fair has been decreasing, but until we must continue our campaign until there are NONE:
- Sea Lion Splash
- Commerford & Son's petting zoo with camel and pony rides
- Ox & horse pulls
*** DISTURBING PICTURE OF A CAMEL OWNED BY COMMERFORD PETTING ZOO LOOKING SICKLY ON THE LAST DAY OF THE BIG E WITH A GOAT STANDING ON IT (was reported to USDA):
Animal exhibitors touring the fair circuit follow a tight schedule. The sheer logistics of fulfilling multiple contracts does not allow for downtime to let animals rest or exercise or to attend to sick or injured animals. It’s impossible to know how many animals suffer and die en route from fair to fair, because the caravans are constantly on the move, and for the most part, no one is watching. The USDA oversees traveling animal shows, but with fewer than 100 inspectors covering the country, it’s virtually impossible to regularly monitor these exhibitors. Innumerable small-town venues lack a veterinarian with expertise in exotic animals, and animals who are ill or injured may go untreated. Many animals are inexpensive to procure, making it cheaper to replace them than to pay for veterinary care or lose time attending to a sick animal.
SEA LION SPLASH:
This wretched traveling sea lion show, with many Animal Welfare Act (USDA) violations - https://www.roadsidezoonews.org/post/sea-lion-splash-cited-for-six-violations-of-the-animal-welfare-act claims that their animals were acquired as “beached sea lions who were unable to be returned to the wild due to age or injuries.” Legitimate animal rescuers never subject their animals to the stress and discomfort of public display. Animals used in traveling acts are forced to endure grueling travel schedules, intense confinement, irregular feeding, lack of exercise, extreme noise, and constant interaction with humans simply to provide “entertainment.” The animals live in a continual state of unease that is both physically and psychologically harmful.
In their natural habitats, sea lions swim long distances, establish territories, seek out mates, and raise families. As props in silly shows and photo sessions, all of their natural behaviors are completely thwarted. Taken from their ocean home, the performing sea lions of “Sea Lion Splash” are relegated to swimming endless circles in small, barren concrete tanks and to performing cheap tricks such as dancing, and playing “catch.” The Sea Lion Splash sea lions live in tiny pools when they’re not performing.
See footage here:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=434519841948904
PETA notes that the current owner of Sea Lion Splash has been cited multiple times by federal authorities for violating the Animal Welfare Act, including for dilapidated facilities that exposed animals to possible injuries, a lack of enough space for the animals to make species-typical movements, and multiple instances of failing to provide them with adequate veterinary care. In 2022, a sea lion died after apparently sustaining a laceration from exposed screws and sharp edges in the tank.
***UPDATE: Four sea lions died in under three months! Bruce, Mahi, Sake and Marina all died between June and August 2026, right before The Big E, in the care of Sea Lion Splash/FL Sea Lion Encounters, an unaccredited traveling circus operating out of Harper, Texas, and Myakka City, Florida.
Official causes of death, from NOAA's records:
Bruce, 23: asphyxiation from a tracheal obstruction by an infiltrating lipoma (a fatty tumor grew into his windpipe and slowly suffocated him)
Mahi, 15: pulmonary edema (her lungs filled with fluid)
Sake, 14: pulmonary edema (her lungs filled with fluid; she died the same day as Mahi)
Marina, 12: acute stress hypothermia (her body temperature dropped to a fatal level)
Mahi, Sake, Marina, Salsa and Easton came from Miami Seaquarium and Gulf World, two parks owned by The Dolphin Company. Both parks are no longer in operation, and The Dolphin Company is under criminal investigation for animal cruelty by state law enforcement agencies in Florida. When The Dolphin Company filed for bankruptcy, all five sea lions were donated to Sea Lion Splash/FL Sea Lion Encounters.
Now that Mahi, Sake and Marina are dead, Easton, 15, and Salsa, about 11, are the only sea lions from The Dolphin Company's parks that are still alive, both at the Myakka City location (DBA FL Sea Lion Encounters). Salsa is a rescued wild sea lion that NOAA declared non-releasable and placed in human care. Both are dangerously thin and live in crumbling backyard pools, where the filthy water is giving them skin lesions and eye problems.
Official complaints have been filed with USDA and NOAA.
Help save Salsa and Easton:
**Email USDA: AnimalCare@usda.gov
**Email NOAA: contact.nmfs.ole.sed@noaa.gov
Tell them to move Salsa and Easton to a safe facility NOW!
COMMERFORD PETTING ZOO:
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 must not be in vain -- we must continue our campaign until The Big E removes ALL cruel animal exhibits.
Commerford Petting Zoo also owned another elephant, Karen, who died in 2019 at a young age of kidney failure, but her death was not revealed to the public until months later. 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), CompassionWorks International, and PETA have been working to send Minnie to an elephant sanctuary. Nonhuman Rights Project even filed a lawsuit in 2017 to free Commerford's elephants, Beulah, Karen and Minnie.
Year after year, WMARA and other organizations have called on The Big E to stop supporting the torment of animals, but it has 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. In 2018 CompassionWorks International filed a USDA complaint against Commerford Petting Zoo for violations recorded. That was a prelude to Beulah’s death in 2019, which resulted in minimal formal consequences, highlighting the USDA's failures. This long horrendous history proves the ineffectiveness and insufficiency of existing animal welfare laws, and the appalling details of the Commerford Zoo’s imprisonment and exploitation of Karen, Beulah, and Minnie.
OXEN/HORSE PULLS:
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!
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Petition created on August 21, 2026