Animal Protection Organizations and Council Member Rosie Mendez Call for Ban on the Use of Wild Animals in Circuses in NYC

New York City—Animal advocates will hold a press conference at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, March 31st to protest the return of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus – dubbed "The Cruelest Show On Earth" – to New York City. Council Member Rosie Mendez will join in to call on the City Council to pass her bill, Intro. 389, which aims to prohibit the use of wild/exotic animals in circuses and other performances throughout New York City. Thirteen other council members have already signed on as co-sponsors of the bill.

The protesters charge that trainers with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus forces animals to perform through the fear of physical punishment, a fact they try to keep deliberately hidden from the public through lying and deception. Circus trainers routinely use whips, chains, bullhooks, and electric prods to control and terrorize animals who were meant to roam free in the wild. Animals in circuses suffer further from being on the road 48-50 weeks out of the year. Crammed in narrow trailers during travel, wild and exotic species are prevented from engaging in even their most basic natural behaviors.

Attending the protest will be John Phillips, executive director, League of Humane Voters of New York City (LOHV-NYC); The Honorable Rosie Mendez, Council Member – 2nd District; Broadway actor and singer Nellie McKay; Valerie Sicignano, East Coast Director, In Defense of Animals (IDA); Edita Birnkrant, Campaign Coordinator, Friends of Animals (FoA); Elinor Molbegott, Legal Counsel, Humane Society of New York (HSNY); Susan Brandt, Executive Director, Rational Animal; and numerous other animal advocates.

When: Saturday, March 31st, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.
Where: Madison Square Garden, 7th Avenue near 33rd Street

Photo Opportunity: A man dressed in an elephant costume will be chained and "beaten" with a bull hook––the same implement of torture Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus uses to "train" elephants for its shows.