Elephants, Circuses, And P.E.T.A.

March 5, 2015, Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus announced that as of 2018, it will no longer be using elephants in its shows. The animal rights group P.E.T.A. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) claimed responsibility, which Feld Entertainment the owners of the circus denied. For 35 years P.E.T.A.  has protested Ringling Brothers for cruelty to elephants.

But, P.E.T.A. has not been just protesting, they have been filing lawsuits against the circus. They lost each lawsuit they have filed against the circus. In 2014, the circus sued P.E.T.A. for making false claims against the circus. In an attempt to win that lawsuit, PE.T.A. paid a $190,000 bribe to a barn worker for the circus. In the end P.E.T.A. lost that lawsuit as well and was ordered to pay $25.2 million dollars. Yet, they are continuing to make claims which were already proved false in court.

You would think that with all the trouble P.E.T.A. has been through over circus elephants that they would be a major organization in the fight to save the more than 50,000 elephants killed in Africa every year. But, you would be wrong. Actually P.E.T.A. is very limited in the animals it does fight for. They are against zoos, circuses, aquariums, wool, leather, fur, silk, hunting, fishing, pet ownership, and service animals. Yes, that is correct. P.E.T.A. is against Seeing Eye dogs and any other animal that is used to benefit people in any way.

P.E.T.A. also donates thousands of dollars every year to know domestic terrorist organizations that have been and are being prosecuted by the FBI and the Justice Department.

P.E.T.A. lobbies to kill cats saying that it is more humane to kill cats than to catch neuter and release. But, they have fought fiercely to prevent feral pigs from being killed, despite the damage in property and the injuries and deaths these animals cause to people. P.E.T.A puts to death over 97 percent of the pets they receive at their shelters around the country, and has been sited many times for inhumane treatment of the animals in their facilities.

A close examination of those animals P.E.T.A does take an interest in shows that the organization appears to be interested in only those animals in industries making millions of dollars a year; companies and corporations which can be sued for millions of dollars.

The situation has gotten so bad at P.E.T.A. that former employees and volunteers have left P.E.T.A. and started their own organization to try and stop the atrocities P.E.T.A. is committing to animals. Their organization is www.petakillsanimals.com and their facebook page is www.facebook.com/PETAKillsAnimals .

In future articles we will look more closely at both the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus and at P.E.T.A. including what government inspectors have to say.