No Elephants at Garden Bros. Circus After PETA Appeal to Hope Ar.

The Garden Bros Circus is coming to Hope, Ar. Feb 5 with two shows. I love the circus and I love animals. We all know, sometimes PETA can go too far but not this time. This is what this organization is supposed to do.

PETA informed law enforcement in Hope Arkansas of Garden Bros. Circus' plans to perform with elephants at its shows next month. Even though there is an ordinance prohibiting events in which wild animals are abused, stressed, harassed, or forced to engage in "unnatural behavior". Hope officials assured PETA that the circus would not bring elephants into the city.

Kudos to Hope officials and to the officials at Hope Fair Park for working hard to enforce the ordinance. I called Laura with the Hope Fair Park said there will be no elephants but there will be a horse, pony and camel rides.

According to the press release from PETA :

"While other circuses have switched to shows that feature only willing human performers, Garden Bros. Circus is still sneaking around with its cruel, dangerous, and unwanted elephant acts," says PETA Foundation Deputy Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Rachel Mathews. "City officials did the right thing here, as every rejection of wild-animal acts helps PETA push circuses toward an animal-free future."

Last year, Garden Bros. used two elephants, named Betty and Bo, supplied by Larry Carden—even though Betty is chronically lame, likely a result of prolonged chaining and confinement. In 2018, officials in Massachusetts and Missouri prevented Garden Bros. from using an underweight horse in performances and charged handlers for holding elephants, camels, and ponies on hot asphalt without shade, respectively. In a 2017 whistleblower complaint, a former Garden Bros. employee described frequently seeing elephants with blood dripping from behind their ears and reported that a handler beat, punched, and kicked a camel after a performance. A handler was also caught repeatedly whipping a llama.

Numerous venues and localities across the country—including in Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.—have canceled Garden Bros. shows or barred the circus from performing with animals.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

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