PETA2 // Take Charge // Campaigns // Fight the Circus

Sick elephant When the circus comes to town, you're sure to see billboards, commercials, and all sorts of other promotions advertising a good time for the whole family, but circuses are no fun for elephants, tigers, and other animals who are forced with whips, bullhooks, and electric prods to perform. Be prepared the next time you see that Ringling, the Shriners, UniverSoul, or any other circus with animal acts is going to be in your area.

Bear muzzle Don't let the silly costumes fool you—there's nothing entertaining about the cruel ways animals in the circus are treated. Unlike clowns and other human circus performers who get paid for their acts, animals in the circus are whipped, beaten with sharp metal bullhooks, and shocked with electrical devices so that they will perform unnatural and often dangerous tricks. When they are not being forced to perform, the animals spend most of their lives in shackles. They are forced to stand up for hours and even days at a time in cramped, filthy trucks during the long trips from city to city and often have to perform even when they become ill.

We've come up with a variety of ways that you can speak up for animals used and abused in circuses. Send us a report telling what you've done to claim your Street Team points.

Activity

Points

Organize a demo against the circus.
E-mail us at peta2@peta2.com at least two weeks before the circus comes to your town, and we'll help you with everything you'll need to organize a kick-butt demonstration, from sending you leaflets, stickers, and posters, to sending an alert to local activists and the media. Need more guidance? Check out our guide to demos.

3,000

Participate in a local demo against the circus.
Attend a demo organized by PETA, a local group, or your friends. Join the peta2 Street Team so that we can alert you to upcoming demos in your area.

1,500

Hand out circus leaflets at your school and other schools in your area.
E-mail peta2@peta2.com and we'll provide you with a stack of leaflets. Better yet, download and print your own and save PETA some money. All you need to do is stand in a busy spot on campus, such as the place where the buses unload or near the cafeteria at lunch, and ask people, “Have you gotten one of these yet?”

500

Collect circus coupons and free tickets and send them to PETA.
If you see a stack of free “$5 off” coupons for Ringling at your local library or free circus tickets that are being offered at your school, grab them and send them to:

PETA
501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510

500

Ask your friends and classmates to pledge not to go to any circus that involves animal acts.
Print out copies of our circus petition, and get people to fill in their names and e-mail addresses around school, at local concerts, and anywhere else you can think of.

Send your completed petitions to:

peta2 Circus Petition
501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510

peta2 Circus Petition
PO Box 36668
London
SE1 1WA
England

You'll earn an additional 50 Street Team points for each e-mail address that you gather.

250

Write letters to the editor.
Send letters to the editors of school and other local newspapers about the circus' cruelty to animals. Send us a printed copy of (or a link to) your published letter to earn a ton of bonus points. Take a look at Circuses.com and PETA's Guide to Letter Writing if you need help coming up with what to write.

250

Send PETA's undercover circus video to everyone you know.
Send an e-mail message to your friends, your family, your neighbors, and anyone else you can think of with a link to PETA's “Make 'Em Scream” video.

100