PETA Doesn't Like Circus

Dear Editor,
    Re: “Ringling Bros.: Fully Charged” [Community Listings, Aug. 24]: It’s too bad that your forward-thinking indie paper is promoting the Ringling Bros. Circus, instead of doing an exposé. This outfit has a long, notorious, and well-documented history of cruelty to animals.
    Ringling just paid a record fine of $270,000 for multiple violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. Ringling has been cited repeatedly by federal authorities for failing to provide animals with veterinary care, causing trauma and physical harm, unsafe handling of dangerous animals, and failure to provide adequate care in transit.
    A former Ringling staffer gave a chilling eyewitness account of baby elephants being ripped from their mothers, tied up with ropes, and beaten until they gave up all hope. Ringling owner Kenneth Feld gave sworn court testimony that elephants are hit with bull hooks – heavy batons with a sharp metal hook on the end. Independent veterinarians have called for Ringling to pull elephants who are sick and lame off the road. An in-depth investigative piece about the circus’s entrenched culture of cruelty ran in the Nov./Dec. issue of Mother Jones.
    Readers can review www.RinglingBeatsAnimals.com and judge for themselves. Please remember that every ticket purchased directly contributes to the miserable lives of the animals.