Ringling Brothers Shocking Cruelty Towards Animals

In July of 2006 PETA went undercover and documented the way the trainers from the Ringling Bros. Circus treated their elephants. What they discovered was so shocking coming from a well-known circus like the Ringling Bros. PETA caught and videotaped a trainer striking an elephant with a sharp bullhook. In the video you can hear Tonka, the elephant, squealing in pain. Immediately afterwards there is a bloody wound on Tonka’s ear. The trainer Troy Metzler also known as “Captain Hook” was caught on camera multiple times cruelly using bullhooks on elephants.

Now(2009) PETA has gone undercover yet agin and discovered that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus were still cruelly abusing elephants. There are 11 elephants in the circus, some captured as early as the late 1950s. PETA documented the traineres using bullhooks on elephants and tigers in multiple venues.

PETA also filmed Tonka swaying side to side while nodding her head and swinging her right foot, a sign of psycological distress in elephants. Tonka has been with Ringling Bros. since she was five years old. She is now twenty-five years old, all that time Tonka has endured bullhook beatings, cramped living spaces, shackles, and having to perform night after night.

A lawsuit has been filed against the Ringling Bros. Circus for the cruel practices their trainers use on their elephants, which is in violation of federal law. The videos PETA has obtained along with the cooperation of former Ringling employees will help move the case along. A verdict is expected as early as this summer.

Hopefully the abuse will stop and these poor elephants will get the help they need.