Shriners Circus is directly responsible for animal abuse, how?

It is quite known that wild animals do not thrive in captivity, yet Shriners International allows the use of several animals at their circuses such as tigers, elephants, and kangaroos. These animals are forced to perform unnatural acts to entertain crowds of circus attendees, and they continue to suffer from abuse both through training and during showtime. Shriners circuses across the country have been cited hundreds of times for both animal cruelty and public safety issues -- take a look at this fact sheet below with more details:

https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ShrineCircusFactsheet.pdf

At this point in time, animal circuses are very outdated, with some of the most prominent circuses opposing animal acts all together. Ringling Brothers closed their doors in 2017 due to public knowledge of animal abuse and declining ticket sales. Even the Los Angeles Shriners (Al Malaikah Shrine) discontinued using animals acts in their circus. Importantly, James Hamid Sr., a former producer of shrine circuses, once said, “As we look into the future, we see all circuses moving to non-animal productions” (Hamid).

It is time for Saint Louis Shriners [Moolah Shrine Temple] to discontinue the use of all animals at their circuses and fundraisers. We demand that they immediately end the use and abuse of all animals because no animal should be used for human entertainment. Please sign the following petition to help end these cruel circus acts!