Tell Municipal Auditorium NO MORE ANIMAL CIRCUSES IN NASHVILLE
Tell Municipal Auditorium NO MORE ANIMAL CIRCUSES IN NASHVILLE
The Issue
Carden Circus continues to use inhumane animal acts as a part of their show. Municipal Auditorium, once again, is hosting Carden Circus from Oct. 11th - 12th, 2025. Please sign and share this petition to demand that Municipal Auditorium no longer invite any circus that continues to use and abuse animals for entertainment.
Through multiple undercover investigations, the public is becoming more aware of the cruelties inherent in animal circus acts, as well as the dangers they pose to the public:
1) As wild animals will engage in naturally defensive behaviors, there have been multiple cases of harm to humans, as was the case of Tyke the elephant. After killing her trainer and injuring a groomer in 1994, Tyke escaped the Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, ultimately to meet 87 bullets after running through the streets for 30 minutes.
2) Systems of punishment and reward are used to train wild animals. Treats are used to enhance incentive to perform unnatural, and sometimes painful behaviors, as the animals are often food deprived.
Routine training devices include bullhooks, whips, and electric shock devices.
3) Wild animals in circuses are deprived of their complex social and behavioral needs, such as free roaming and connection with other animals. Circus animals spend most of their lives in cramped cages, and babies are often taken away from their mothers.
4) Lack of regulation: Due to minimal standards established by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), as well as USDA understaffing, safety regulation and protocol is rarely examined or enforced.
5) Venue + city liability issues: As there have been many documented cases of wild animals putting the public at risk and even harming and killing people – such as with the case of Tyke mentioned above, as well as another documented case of a bear on a runaway motorcycle that broke loose into the crowd – there is concern around how equipped venue staff + city law enforcement are to handle potential dangers to the public.
PLEASE join our Nashville family in letting Municipal Auditorium know that animal circuses have NO place in modern, ethical, consensual entertainment, and certainly not in our city.
PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE QUICKLY -- NO ANIMAL CIRCUSES THIS FALL IN NASHVILLE!
*Information provided by the Animal Legal Defense Fund: aldf.org
168
The Issue
Carden Circus continues to use inhumane animal acts as a part of their show. Municipal Auditorium, once again, is hosting Carden Circus from Oct. 11th - 12th, 2025. Please sign and share this petition to demand that Municipal Auditorium no longer invite any circus that continues to use and abuse animals for entertainment.
Through multiple undercover investigations, the public is becoming more aware of the cruelties inherent in animal circus acts, as well as the dangers they pose to the public:
1) As wild animals will engage in naturally defensive behaviors, there have been multiple cases of harm to humans, as was the case of Tyke the elephant. After killing her trainer and injuring a groomer in 1994, Tyke escaped the Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, ultimately to meet 87 bullets after running through the streets for 30 minutes.
2) Systems of punishment and reward are used to train wild animals. Treats are used to enhance incentive to perform unnatural, and sometimes painful behaviors, as the animals are often food deprived.
Routine training devices include bullhooks, whips, and electric shock devices.
3) Wild animals in circuses are deprived of their complex social and behavioral needs, such as free roaming and connection with other animals. Circus animals spend most of their lives in cramped cages, and babies are often taken away from their mothers.
4) Lack of regulation: Due to minimal standards established by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), as well as USDA understaffing, safety regulation and protocol is rarely examined or enforced.
5) Venue + city liability issues: As there have been many documented cases of wild animals putting the public at risk and even harming and killing people – such as with the case of Tyke mentioned above, as well as another documented case of a bear on a runaway motorcycle that broke loose into the crowd – there is concern around how equipped venue staff + city law enforcement are to handle potential dangers to the public.
PLEASE join our Nashville family in letting Municipal Auditorium know that animal circuses have NO place in modern, ethical, consensual entertainment, and certainly not in our city.
PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE QUICKLY -- NO ANIMAL CIRCUSES THIS FALL IN NASHVILLE!
*Information provided by the Animal Legal Defense Fund: aldf.org
168
The Decision Makers
Supporter Voices
Petition created on September 2, 2025