Events

On Friday, July 31st, from 6-7:30 PM, VFA is holding its third protest against Giant Eagle in our campaign against Giant Eagle's partnership with the Shrine Circus. Please come out and let Giant Eagle know that their support of animal abuse inherent to animal circuses will not be tolerated. We will have signs and leaflets available.

At 7:30 we will be leafletting along Carson Street on our way to Zenith restaurant for dinner! You are welcome to join us!

Why Giant Eagle?

For the past several years, VFA has opposed all animal circuses that have performed in Pittsburgh. Every year within memory, Giant Eagle has been the largest and most visible sponsor of the Shrine Circus. Without this financial support, the Shrine Circus would not be able to abuse and exploit animals in Pittsburgh.

Why Shrine Circus?

The Shrine Circus, like all circuses that continue to use animals, is inherently cruel and exploitive to the animals it uses in its shows. Animals used in circuses live miserable lives of exploitation, deprivation, confinement, and violent training. In order to get wild animals to perform unnatural, uncomfortable, and often dangerous tricks, they are beaten into submission using whips, electric prods, and bullhooks. They are trucked around from city to city in boxcars with no heat or air conditioning. When elephants are not performing, they are kept chained up by one front leg and one back leg; big cats and other animals are kept in cages so small they can barely turn around comfortably. Most importantly, the circus takes animals far from their natural homes, traumatically separates them from their families, and deprives them of their basic needs and desires to exercise, roam, socialize, forage, and play. Stereotypic behaviors such as swaying back and forth, head-bobbing, pacing, bar-biting, and self-mutilation are common signs of mental distress in captive animals, and are not behaviors seen in nature.

The Shrine Circus is no different than any other circus that exploits animals used in their performances, except for the fact that Shrine doesn’t "own" the animals, but rather leases them out from outside companies such as Hawthorn Corporation, Circus Hollywood, and the George Carden Circus. This means that Shrine escapes having USDA citations listed in its name. However, some of the worst and most notorious circus incidents occurred under Shrine Circus exhibitors, such as when Tyke the elephant snapped from the continuous abuse he was living under, and went on a rampage, resulting tragically, in him being gunned down. For a list of Shrine Circus incidents and USDA violations, see this link:

http://circuses.com/pdfs/Shrine_fact.pdf

Contrary to popular belief, proceeds from Shrine’s ticket sales do not go to Shriner’s Hospitals for Children. In fact, if you look at the small print on the bottom of a Shrine Circus ad, you’ll see "Proceeds are for the benefit of Syria Temple. Payments are not deductible as charitable contributions". Even if the funds were going to the hospitals however, there are a multitude of other fundraisers the Shriners could choose from without resorting to animal exploitation, including any animal-free circus.

Keeping animals captive in the circus is a cruel and archaic tradition that must be brought to an end. Please help us move towards that goal and come and protest with us!

For more information about the inherent cruelty of animal circuses visit:

www.morebeautifulwild.com

www.circuses.com

http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/issues_facing_wildlife/circuses/