Colorado Renaissance Festival is STILL using animals to entertain in 2021 at their festival this summer. Elephant rides are CRUEL and INHUMANE for any period of time. Elephants must be trained to be in close proximity to humans and to carry them on their backs. This involves a very sick process of beatings, isolation, and a breaking of their spirit where the elephant eventually becomes fearful enough to avoid pain and “obey” the trainer. The life of an elephant forced to carry out rides is a sad one at that. Typically they are chained for long hours on hot days with little rest, and eventually develop back and spine problems as well as foot issues from the weight. An elephant should never be forced to perform these acts. They deserve so much better. Captive elephants forced to perform these types of acts and entertainment often die well short of their intended lifespan. They can suffer from PTSD and other physical ailments like heart attacks from the stress.

I encourage you to sign this petition to ask this festival to STOP this cruelty that they’ve been promoting for over twenty years. They have also had big cat (tiger, leopard, exotic cats) shows in the past, and camel rides. Let’s ask them to join the Kansas City Renaissance Festival and more than 700 venues nationwide that have committed to not allowing elephant rides and other cruel exhibits with wild and exotic animals.