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News :: Protest Activity |
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Circus Protest A Success: Pressuring Circus To Stop Animal Abuse And False Advertising |
Current rating: 0 |
by Matt Berry
Email: info (nospam) dissectionchoice.org (verified) |
13 Jun 2003
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Circus protests June 9 and 10 at Champaign County Fairgrounds were a great success. Many would-be attendees turned around and left when protestors told them about Sterling and Reid Brothers' history of Animal Welfare Act violations and false advertising. |
Circus protests organized by Champaign-Urbana residents over the Sterling and Reid Brothers' performances June 9 and 10 were a great success. Many would-be attendees turned around and left when protestors told them about Sterling and Reid Brothers' history of Animal Welfare Act violations and false advertising.
More than 30 people in all participated in protests at four circus performances at the Champaign County Fairgrounds. Their message, delivered by big poster-board signs, small leaflets, and personal conversations with circus-goers, was that Sterling and Reid Bros. is cruel entertainment, with at least twelve citations from the USDA for violating the animal welfare act.
Reactions were mixed the first day. A few people were visibly upset; they turned around and left. A few others were belligerent. Most were curious but not moved one way or the other, and the remainder drove through the entrance without slowing to take one of our leaflets. I suspect many of them saw us as adversaries (as if we were protesting THEM)--or at least didn't think of us as doing them any favors--and so had little reason to trust us.
But all that changed after one protestor attended the circus, where she saw plenty to get circus-goers on our side.
The protestor had received a free adult ticket from circus staff while talking with them the morning they arrived in town. She wanted the opportunity to document any animal abuse that occurred during the show. She did see abuse--some of it apparently legal, like striking tigers on the face with a whip, and some of it almost certainly illegal, most astonishingly the state of two terrified hyenas, one with bloody lesions on its face, that had spent hours that morning without access to food or water (all of this is documented on videotape). But she also saw fraud.
Advertisements for the circus had promised many things--"herds of elephants," "three rings," "40 horses," "giant crocodiles," "Iggy & Ziggy the 2-Headed Piggy"--but delivered few of them. There were no elephants, no crocodiles, and no two-headed pig; there was one ring, not three, and ten horses, not 40. Of course, that meant fewer animals for the circus to abuse, but taking advantage of people isn't any more defensible than taking advantage of animals.
Protestors went out the second day with information about the false advertising. This time people saw us as allies, trying to help them from being defrauded. Dozens of cars turned around and left on the spot. Others decided to go in and ask questions, but decided in the end that their time and money would be better spent elsewhere. Before leaving, though, many of these people, now trusting us, were very concerned about the history of animal abuse and asked for copies of our leaflets to read at home. We received lots of sincere thank-yous, thumbs up, and horn-honks of appreciation.
Since the circus left town on Tuesday, protestors have followed up on several fronts. Some uncovered evidence online that the circus has a record of false advertising (see, for example, http://www.komu.com/html/htmlSummer2003/circus060303.html), and two protestors with free tickets drove to see the circus in Danville last night, where the all the same acts were missing. Several people are filing complaints with the Illinois Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau. We are also alerting media in all of Sterling and Reid Brothers’ upcoming scheduled stops. A few protestors are even driving to protest the circus in other towns, while others are pursuing a ban on some circuses with the Champaign County Board.
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See also:
http://www.komu.com/html/htmlSummer2003/circus060303.html
http://www.hamptonroads.com/pilotonline/news/nw0904cir.html
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Re: Circus Protest A Success: Pressuring Circus To Stop Animal Abuse And False Advertising |
by Ruth
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 3
13 Jun 2003
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Thank you Illinois! |
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Re: Circus Protest A Success: Pressuring Circus To Stop Animal Abuse And False Advertising |
by carebear
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
14 Jun 2003
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good job! |
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Re: Circus Protest A Success: Pressuring Circus To Stop Animal Abuse And False Advertising |
by cheryl longwell
heybrowneyedgirl98 (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
17 May 2004
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God created all of us!And no matter what the reason nobody should be able to abuse or torture a animal.I would like someone to contact me on a situation that happened to our family pet.(shot by our village dog catcher because he looked like another dog that lives down street.(was our dog's brother)that this dog catcher has been trying to get for the last year.He shot him in city limits. |
