PETA to protest circus at Staples Center

The circus is coming to town -- on Tuesday a parade of elephants marched through downtown Los Angeles -- and animal rights activists aren’t happy.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has planned a protest outside Staples Center on Wednesday night to coincide with the opening night of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The PETA demonstration kicks off at 6:30 p.m. and will include an appearance by Olivia Munn, a new correspondent on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and an animal-rights activist. Munn recently posed nude in an anti-circus billboard on the Sunset Strip.

The circus will at Staples Center through Sunday.

-- Kate Linthicum

Photo: Six elephants from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus complete a predawn walk from Union Station to Staples Center. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Neil Border]

Good! I wish I could go

[Verballistic]

PETA are the ultimate hypocrites!!

When over 4 dozen abused dogs were rescued from the dog-fighting operation of NFL star Michael Vick, PETA demanded that the animals be EUTHANIZED. Fortunately, more rational minds prevailed & almost all of the dogs were nursed back to good health.

That TYPIFIES how the hypocrites at PETA place their political AGENDA above the safety of the animals themselves...

[DogFather]

Circus animals have no role in a civilized society.

Confining them to cages and transporting them in trucks and trains for thousands of miles yearly to perform stupid tricks for our stupid enjoyment is disgraceful.

Shame on us for permitting this.

[hairycarrion]

Good, because they aren't happy elephants.

[Jess]

Wonder how many homeless people they pass up in disgust on their way to the protest??

[Brenda G]

Did anyone see on the news when a Dolphin jumped out of its tank in Japan?? The aquarium's "explanation" was..."Oh he was just playing too hard and was getting too excited and happy when he fell out." Wow I'm sure they know how to speak Dolphin.

These animals do not deserve to be caged or trained for our enjoyment. It sad to see these animals with costumes because they are not humans but just wild animals who should be in their Natural Habitat. Shame on you Ringling Bros.

[James T]

Those poor animals are tortured with electric prods to coerce them to perform unnatural tricks for people's entertainment. It is appalling.

[Tornadoes28]

For once I actually agree with PETA.

[raul]

i wouldnt mind peta if they didnt support BSL.

[Tahler]

I will definitely join their protest against the circus! Google or Bing "Ringling Beats Animals" and you will see why I will NEVER attend a circus with animals again.

[Tula]

These intelligent and sensitive animals are victims of abuse, cruelty and constant harassment. Circuses using animals is something that has no place in the 21st century.

[Lucy Shelton]

There's always a "Jess" out there. People concerned for animals are, of course, concerned for children, people and the environment. Everything is interconnected. What are YOU doing for the homeless?

“Circus animals are enslaved just for entertainment and it’s not right! I urge people not to support the circus because it forces magnificent wild animals to endure a life of unnatural confinement and torment. God did not design tigers to live in boxes and elephants to live in shackles their entire lives, like they do in the circus. And it’s solely for our entertainment – how frivolous!

It’s not morally right to accept their misery as a trade off for a few minutes of amusement. We don’t need to use animals for our entertainment, nor should we as a civilized society.

In their homelands, elephants and tigers run, interact with their own species, scratch themselves on trees, forage for food, and swim and play in streams and ponds. They cannot do any of these natural, normal activities when they are relegated to the abusive life in the circus.

In the circus, they are chained or behind electric fencing all of the time except when performing. When not in the ring, tigers are kept in cages that are so small they can hardly stand up or turn around. The elephants are routinely kept chained and locked up to 50 weeks a year to eat, drink, sleep, defecate, and urinate in the same place, and let out only when it is time for a performance. These sensitive animals are trained using physical force: whips, hooks, chains, and food deprivation.

‘“The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.” ~ Alice Walker “

[TheBigPicture]

I love stupid tricks...I like it when the elephants sit on their hind legs and look up...I'm going out to buy a ticket right now...I also like it when they do hand stands...