Urge Mom Central to Steer Clear of Ringling Elephant Abuse

FROM People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Tell Mom Central to stand up for mother elephants who are trapped in the circus and stripped of the ability to protect their babies. Tell the Web site to do the right thing by these babies by not renewing its partnership with the circus.

CONTACT

Sign an online petition

And/Or better yet, make direction contact:

Mom Central
phone (828)749-3200
email

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

Parenting advice Web site Mom Central is considering renewing its marketing partnership with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, a company with a long history of public deception and animal abuse. But parents who take their kids to the circus for family fun never see what goes on behind the scenes at Ringling's breeding center, where frightened and still-nursing baby elephants are captured rodeo-style and dragged away from their mothers. Moms and dads are oblivious to the year-long intense and violent training sessions that last for several hours a day. They never hear the screams and cries or see the futile and frantic struggling as baby elephants are wrestled, stretched out, slammed to the ground, gouged with bullhooks, and shocked with electric prods.

It's no surprise that Ringling's glossy public relations campaigns leave out these disturbing facts:

• Ringling rips baby elephants away from their mothers 18 months after they are born.
• Once taken away from their mothers, baby elephants are chained by all four legs to the floor of a concrete barn for up to 23 hours a day to break their spirits, and they are never allowed to play outdoors. Chaining a curious and energetic baby elephant for such long periods is psychologically devastating to the animal.
• Baby elephants are trained using sheer force, electric hot shots, bullhooks, fear, and intimidation.
• In recent years, at least four baby elephants used by Ringling have died.

This is a session to train the elephant to “lay down” on command. Bullhooks abound. This barbaric and violent training process goes on in secret, out of the public’s view, completely unmonitored by any federal, state or local law enforcement agency. Read Whistleblower Validates Ringling Cruelty to Elephants.

Ringling's barbaric and violent training process goes on in secret, out of the public's view, completely unmonitored by any federal, state, or local law enforcement agency. You only need to take one look at the pictures provided to PETA by a former Ringling elephant trainer to see the terror in a baby elephant's eye as she is surrounded by handlers who slam her to the ground, and break her spirit so that she will perform under the big top.

Thank you for everything you do for animals!