The Show Must Not Go On: PETA Calls on Mullingar Officials to Ban Wild-Animal Circuses

For Immediate Release:

26 February 2016

Contact:

Jennifer White 07525411733 ; [email protected]

THE SHOW MUST NOT GO ON: PETA CALLS ON MULLINGAR OFFICIALS TO BAN WILD-ANIMAL CIRCUSES

Appeal Comes on Heels of Abused Elephants’ Arrival in Town

County Westmeath – Today, international animal protection group PETA fired off a letter to Mullingar councillors urging them to ban wild-animal circuses from council land, as Galway, Limerick, County Cork, Cork City, South Dublin, Waterford and Monaghan have already done. The appeal follows Circus Belly Wien’s arrival in the town and its subsequent elephant parade. Photos of the event shared widely on social media show circus workers dragging elephants by their sensitive ears, jabbing them with sharp metal objects, and allowing the public to get dangerously close to the animals.

In its letter, PETA points out that elephants and other wild animals used for entertainment are denied everything that is natural and important to them. They are often torn away from their families when they’re just babies and spend the rest of their lonely lives constantly travelling. They are moved around in cramped, filthy conditions and chained or caged for up to 23 hours a day. On the brief occasions when they are released, it is only to perform often painful tricks in the circus ring under the threat of being beaten or whipped. What’s more, elephant displays such as the one in Mullingar, which saw small children posing next to the massive wild animals, are a grave risk to public safety, as elephants have often been known to snap and run amok, causing fatal injuries.

“Our understanding of animals such as elephants, zebras and lions is so much greater than it was in the past, and we now know that a circus environment can never come close to meeting their complex needs”, says PETA Director Mimi Bekhechi. “There is no longer any excuse to allow these archaic forms of so-called ‘entertainment’ to tour in Mullingar or elsewhere. For the sake of the animals, the show must not go on.”

PETA’s letter is available here. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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