For immediate release:
February 14, 2022
Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382
Hugo, Okla. – ONE PETA investigation It was revealed that two elderly elephants, Isa and Viola, were “contracted” from the local facility. Circus Carson & Barnes to the Circus World Museum in Wisconsin, where they were forced to perform Daily from mid-June to August of last year, despite signs of aching legs and joint problems—It’s one of the top reasons captive elephants are killed. In response to the findings, PETA is urging The U.S. Department of Agriculture banned Carson & Barnes from continuing to let Isa and Viola get into the tiring routine of traveling, riding, and performing.
PETA recorded that both elephants shifted weight off their hind legs for a significant amount of time, which could indicate discomfort caused by arthritis or other conditions. The video shows that their hind paws are often swollen and that Isa has misaligned toenails, which can be a serious problem for elephants. However, Isa was forced to ride a horse before and after each performance that a PETA investigator observed, while a gunman threatened her with a bullhook (a fireplace-like weapon with a sharp metal hook at one end). One worker admitted on video that both elephants were chained throughout the night.
“Forcing old elephants to do stupid tricks, pulling people on their backs and standing on concrete all night while chained by their feet is not the way to treat them or our elders. any Rachel Mathews, PETA’s Captivity Animal Law Enforcement Director, said. “PETA is calling on Carson & Barnes to give these long-suffering elephants a peaceful and well-earned retirement, and urges the public to avoid acts of animals as if life depended on it, because they do.”
Carson & Barnes pointed to more than 100 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, including when at Circus World, where it used an elephant so thin that its hip bones protruded and failed to notice that Another elephant was lame. Its head trainer was caught on camera instructing other trainers to drown a bull in elephant meat and twist it until they screamed. Carson & Barnes is currently being sued by a guest who was seriously injured in an encounter with an elephant at the Hugo Roadside Zoo, where he kept elephants that were not accompanied by the circus.
PETA has been documenting the suffering and exploitation of Viola and Isa for many years. They each escaped from Carson & Barnes twice (together in 2014, Viola alone in 2010, and Isa alone in 1975, when she was on a tug for 17 days). In 2010, Isa stepped foot into a coach. In 1999, PETA published results from a secret investigation which included documentation that Viola was chained and swayed in apparent pain.
PETA — in part, the motto that “animals are not ours to use for fun” — advocates speciesism, a human worldview – supremacy. For more information on PETA news collection and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebookor Instagram.
