I see that the Carson and Barnes circus is in town on Friday. I would ask that anyone taking their children to see the wild animals would first visit the website www.peta.org/videos/carson-barnes-circus-cruelty. Carson and Barnes has been cited by the AWA and the USDA for failure to provide veterinary care and minimum space, for failure to provide shelter from the elements, for failure to maintain transport trailers, for inadequate ventilation, for unsound fencing that failed to protect spectators and animals, for rusty animal cages and for giving animals unclean drinking water and the list goes on. Animals who are forced to travel and perform with circuses lead miserable lives. Unlike human performers, animals do not choose to do “tricks.” Through the use of fear, pain and hunger, handlers force animals to do things they would never do in nature. When animals are not performing, they are kept chained or tethered or are confined to cages barely larger than their own bodies. The Carson & Barnes animal care director was videotaped viciously attacking elephants with a bull hook, shocking elephants with an electric prod and instructing trainers to embed sharp metal hooks into the elephants flesh until the elephants screamed in pain. You can contact PETA for documentation. I would also ask that you go to the eyewitness accounts of Courtnay Tosti, an ex-circus employee. Thank you.

 

Diane Huseman 

Cookeville, Tennessee