Victory: Delia's Pulls Ringling Bros. Tees! September 8, 2009

Posted by Marta at September 8, 2009 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 59 ) | TrackBack

Recently, we let you know that Delia's clothing company was selling Ringling Bros. tees. I'm so happy to tell you that the company's CEO has confirmed with us that they will be pulling the shirts from their Web site, stores, and their October catalog by this Friday, September 11.

Thanks so much to each and every one of you who took the time to write and call the company, asking them to stop promoting Ringling's cruel treatment of animals. Remember: your voice does make a difference, so make sure it's always heard loud and clear—you are making change happen!

Please take a second to write to Delia's, thanking them for making the compassionate decision.

I'm sure that if they could, Tonka, Luna, and Ringling's other elephants would thank you too.

One Minute Mission: Call Delia's and Ask Them to Stop Promoting Ringling Bros! September 1, 2009

Posted by Marta at September 1, 2009 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

As we told you last week, Delia's is currently selling a shirt that promotes Ringling Bros. We've contacted Delia's CEO to let him know that Ringling beats animals, separates mother elephants from their babies, and chains elephants for up to 100 hours at a time—and hundreds of you have written to Delia's, voicing your concerns and asking the clothing company to stop selling a T-shirt that promotes such blatant cruelty to animals. One amazing activist was even so outraged that Delia's was promoting Ringling Bros. that she gathered all the clothes that she's purchased from Delia's and took a picture to show the company that she is indeed a customer and wants them to stop selling the tee immediately:

So why isn't Delia's listening to its customers and showing compassion for elephants? Your guess is as good as mine, but I do know that we need Delia's to continue hearing from all of you, so please take a minute to call Delia's customer service line at 888-533-5427 and press six to talk to a representative. Tell the company that you won't shop at Delia's until it stops promoting cruelty to animals by supporting Ringling Bros. And please remember to be polite!

Once you call, drop us an e-mail at StreetTeam@peta2.com, letting us know how it all went, and we'll give you 1,000 Street Team points.

Remember, Ringling's elephants need your voice!




P.S. If you haven't written to Delia's yet, please do so now too!

Why Is Delia's Supporting Ringling Bros? August 27, 2009

Posted by Marta at August 27, 2009 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 4 ) | TrackBack

I used to be all about Delia's. Last summer, some peta2 staffers and I went to Richmond for the day, and we most definitely made sure to stop by the Delia's store, which is why I'm all the more disappointed that the clothing company is selling a Ringling Bros. tee that proclaims the animal-abusing circus to be "the greatest show on Earth."

PETA contacted Delia's CEO to let him know that Ringling beats animals, separates mother elephants from their babies, and chains elephants for up to 100 hours at a time—and even sent a link to our new undercover investigation, but Delia's continues to sell the Ringling tees. In case you haven't seen the investigation yet, check it out:

It just isn't right that Delia's is selling a tee that promotes such blatant cruelty to animals. I mean seriously—these T-shirts are basically allowing customers to be walking billboards for beating elephants.

Please click here to contact Delia's CEO to ask him to watch our investigation and to stop all sales of Delia's Ringling tee immediately. Do it for those who have no voice—especially Tonka, Luna, and Ringling's other elephants.

Let's make sure Delia's knows that no one is OK with Ringling beating animals!



P.S. If you want to sport a circus tee with quite a different message—check this out.

Kids Speak Out Against Ringling August 26, 2009

Posted by Tiffany Wright at August 26, 2009 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

If you've checked out PETAKids.com this month, you know we're asking kids to tell us what they think of Ringling Bros. trainers abusing animals. Here's a taste of what they had to say:

"I feel sad for those elefants. The circus people should get in bad trouble! We will never go to a circus with animals in it." Donna Rhoades, age 5, Conway, Missouri

"[I] think people that put elephants n circus acts are so dumb and stupid and one day every thing is gonna come back for what they did grrrr!!!." Dalila Solorio, age 11, Baja, California

"My mom talked to me about the cruelty that happens to the animals at the circus, when they were in my town. I decided I would rather not go, than know that I was watching them harm the animals!" Sydni Denman-Moyer, age 6, Villa Hills, Kentucky

"Circuses that abuse animals make me SO sad. Elephants don't belong in a circus; they want to be with their families and live in the place they were born. People who abuse animals should be ashamed and sent somewhere to think about what they've done!" Bea Kubasik, age 4, South Portland, Maine

"What the Ringling Bros do to the Elephants it should be done back to them. Ex. poking them with it Bullhook." Emilie Daniel, age 11, Ontario, Canada

"I think circuses are very bad because animals can die there and they take babies away from their mamas. I never go to circuses." Francis Ménard, age 7, Québec, Canada

"I don't think it's right that they abuse animals like that because the animals are alive and they have feelings. I just wish the circuses would be banned for life. [PETA] thank you so much for trying to help these animals." Isabel Simon, age 7, San Diego, California

"I think someone should put the circus people in a circus and let the animals go!" Xavier Finch, age 10, Lincoln Park, Michigan

"I think if they're mean to any animal they should go to jail. No one should go to the circus" Michael Cioffi, age 6, West Haverstraw, New York

"[I] think abusers are losers!!!!" Lupita Mesa, age 12, Stockton, California

Gotta love the littles! If you have younger siblings and want them to know why elephants, tigers, bears, and other animals shouldn't be forced to perform at the circus—but don't want to show them the disturbing undercover footage—tell them to check out our Ringling Bros. feature on PETAKids.

Do Your Friends Know That Ringling Beats Animals? August 25, 2009

Posted by Rachel-O at August 25, 2009 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 20 ) | TrackBack

Ringling Beats Animals! Everyone knows that right? It may seem like it, with PETA's recent investigation into Ringling, and compassionate people everywhere holding protests when the circus shows up in their town—but believe it or not, some people still think it's okay to drag their kids to the circus to give them a lesson in supporting cruelty to animals.

How can people be so clueless? Sometimes it's hard to figure out. Maybe you've forwarded our new investigation to everyone in your family and all of your friends, but they still don't get it. Maybe it's time for a ... cuter approach.

Print out one of our signs below, fill out your name, take a picture (a lot of Street Teamers have been taking a pic with their companion animals to up the cuteness level!) and send it in to us at StreetTeam@peta2.com. Make sure you post it on your Facebook wall or default it as your MySpace pic so everyone can see it—that's the point, right? We'll give you 1000 Street Team points for sending us your link or a screen shot of the picture on your Facebook wall!

or

Tonka, Luna and the other nine elephants suffering at the hands of Ringling's trainers need your help! Speak up for them now!

Chickens Picketing, Sidewalk Showers, and More August 4, 2009

Posted by Marta at August 4, 2009 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 28 ) | TrackBack

As I've mentioned before, PETA's campaigners are all over the place! Check out what they've been up to recently.

Picketing the ceremony that was honoring McDonald's CEO as "CEO of the Year" in NYC:

Protesting Ringling Bros.' treatment of animals outside of the opening night show in Ontario, Canada:


A "shower" demonstration in Bend, Oregon, to bring attention to the fact that the amount of water used to make 1 lb. of meat is equal to the amount of water used for 6 months of showers:


Which protest is your favorite?

477 Years of Suffering July 30, 2009

Posted by Ryan at July 30, 2009 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack Hey everybody! Well, the mathemagicians over at PETA.org have crunched the numbers, to help us put the suffering animals face at the hands of the Ringling Bros. circus in perspective. Pretty astonishing stuff, eh?

477 years ...

animalrights.about / cc

That's the grand total of years that the 18 elephants used and abused by two of Ringling's touring units have been forced to endure beatings, chaining, and standing in cramped, sweltering boxcars. If you break that down, Ringling has tormented just these elephants—they have dozens more—for a total of 5,724 months, 24,804 weeks, or 174,105 days.

To put this in perspective, 1968, the year that Baby, Sarah and Banana—three of the elephants who are traveling with Ringling—were forced to perform for the first time, was the year that Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot. We've come a long way since then—or have we?

Ringling talks a big game about "elephant conservation," but the reality is that Ringling has actually removed more elephants from the wild than it has bred. Most of the elephants you see pirouetting and standing on their heads in Ringling performances at one point in their lives roamed vast jungles. You might call it Ringling's other dirty secret (besides that little issue of beating the @#$% out of elephants when they think nobody's looking).

Ringling's elephants are also dying faster than they are breeding: At least 26 elephants, including four babies, have died since 1992. Eight were under the age of 40 (which is just about half an elephant's natural life expectancy of 70 years). Oh, and those babies Ringling does manage to breed are only used to replenish its dying stocks—they will never be released in the wild—ever.

Pretty depressing, isn't it? Ringling must be using some kind of new math to make all that add up to "conservation."

Red Unit

Name	Year Acquired by Ringling	Year Born and Where	Length of Time with Ringling
Asia	1990	1968 in the wild	19 years
Tonka	1989	8/23/1983 in captivity	20 years
Luna	1989	1984 in captivity	20 years
Assan/Aussan	1968	1957 in the wild	41 years
Banana	1968	1957 in the wild	41 years
Sarah	1968	1957 in the wild	41 years
Toby	1972	1961 in the wild	37 years
Banko	1980	1976 in the wild	29 years
Siam	1980	1978 in the wild	29 years
Baby	1968	1961 in the wild	41 years
Angelica	1997	1997 born into Ringling	12 years

BLUE UNIT

Name	Year Acquired by Ringling	Year Born and Where	Length of Time with Ringling
Kelly Ann	1996	1996 born into Ringling	13 years
Sara	2001	2001 born into Ringling	8 years
Bonnie	1994	1994 born into Ringling	15 years
Juliette	1992	1992 born into Ringling	17 years
Minyak	1984	1966 in the wild	25 years
Karen	1969	1969 in the wild	40 years
Nicole	1980	1976 in the wild	29 years

Posted by Alisa Mullins

New PETA Investigation Shows Ringling Beats Animals July 22, 2009

Posted by Ryan at July 22, 2009 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 4 ) | TrackBack

Hey everybody. Undercover investigations have long been at the foundation of PETA's efforts to speak out against cruelty to animals, and this latest example is no exception. Make sure to check out the footage below, and I'll let our Senior Research Associate, Dan Paden, explain the details ...
—Ryan

Today we released a new investigation inside Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus that shows workers on video as they beat and whipped elephants dozens of times in venues across the country. It's an investigation that I helped work on.

Once investigators capture video from an investigation, my job is to review all the footage and meticulously record the abuses and other notable findings. From that, I prepare condensed versions of the video for the public to view and draft complaints to officials, which in the new investigation into Ringling amounted to nine complaints to a total of 20 federal and state offices.

At times, reviewing so much footage can be tedious and extremely upsetting, but it's nothing compared to the relentless suffering that the animals who are used by Ringling are subjected to.

Most of the investigations that I work on involve farmed animals, in which the longest life span is about two years (for a pig used for breeding purposes). Her two years going from gestation crate to farrowing crate and back, over and over, are miserable, but her suffering comes to an end. For the elephants used and abused by Ringling, the suffering can go on for decades, and there's no end in sight—unless PETA and the public can convince the USDA to seize these majestic, elderly psychologically damaged animals.

Many of these elephants have not known anything close to a "natural" life since they were caught in Asia decades before I was born, but now the USDA has the chance to make things right by moving these animals to a sanctuary where they will be able to roam around the vast area that they need in order to be healthy and happy. Our brave investigator has armed the USDA with the information that it needs in order to make this happen and finally end these animals' decades of suffering.

It is an honor to work on all our investigations, which are the heart and soul of PETA, but it has been the highest compliment ever to be able to work with our investigator to document the heartbreaking plight of the gentle giants who are abused by Ringling and give them a chance to escape from their long years of torment and beatings.

Now that we have given the feds more than sufficient evidence to seize these animals, I hope we will finally be able to make history for elephants.

- Dan Paden, Senior Research Associate

My First Animal Rights Protest (and Fun Pictures Too!) August 12, 2008

Posted by Ryan at August 12, 2008 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 5 ) | TrackBack

You know, people often ask me "How did you get started in all of this?" and "What was the first step?"

Well, for me it began with a circus protest. Since I had signed up for the peta2 Street Team a few months earlier, I received an email in the fall of 2004 stating that the UniverSoul Circus was coming to town, and bringing their horrific record of animal abuse with them. I promptly emailed peta2, and requested posters and leaflets to hand out to attendees. I also gathered a few of my friends together, to hopefully show people the seedy underside of "The Big Top".

It wasn't the most highly attended demonstration in history (in fact, it might have been one of the lowest), but from that point forward I knew that organizing a demonstration really was as simple as can be. Needless to say, once I had one protest under my belt, I searched for opportunities to speak out again.

Since I had recently started a student group at my school, and I knew that those notorious uber-douches Ringling Bros. were coming to town, I got on Facebook and started organizing.


The feeling of success that comes with organizing these events really is incredible. Like a bus with no brakes, there was no stopping my friends and me. It didn't matter which animal abuser we were targeting:

KFC...


Dogfighters...


Heck, we even had a little fun when speaking out against the fur industry (yes, that's me on the far left)...


The point is that protesting industries that abuse animals is not only super-easy, but it can also be really fun! All you have to do is take that first step. Trust me, you'll never look back.

- Ryan!

Metal, Pirates, and Ringling! November 21, 2007

Posted by Marta at November 21, 2007 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 ) | TrackBack

We have been on tour with The Agonist and let me tell you, if you like metal and haven't seen these guys (and gal) play live, you really need to check them out. The black-hearted singer, Alissa, is not only vegan, she speaks out for animals every chance she can get. She asked peta2 to come out on tour with her to get people to sign our petition to help improve the conditions for chickens in slaughterhouses.

The Agonist's video "Business Suits and Combat Boots" has also been nominated for the best music video of 2007 on Head Bangers Ball. Make sure you help them out and vote for them.

While on tour we stopped by Chicago and met up with Jason and Loyd who have been following Ringling Bros. Circus, letting people know how they beat their animals to make them perform stupid tricks.


Most of you don't know this, but I'm pretty much obsessed with pirates and while in Portland, OR, we came across the best place I've ever seen by far.


Pirate's Tavern is an all-vegan pirate tavern. They have everything from fake fish sandwiches to vegan chili cheese fries.




So, make sure you check out The Agonist and if you can, please come out to a show and say Ahoy!

-Paul