ABOUT PROJECT:
The purpose of the "Elephants Never Forget" campaign is to draw attention to the miserable lives of captive elephants and to encourage people to boycott circuses that use animals. Here are some facts about elephants and animal circuses:
- Elephants are exceedingly intelligent, highly social animals. In the wild, they protect each other, care for orphaned babies and mourn their dead relatives. Mother elephants teach their young to cover themselves with mud to ward off sunburn and to grasp tiny pieces of fruit with their trunks.
- Elephants in circuses spend their lives shackled in chains and are hauled around in trucks from one city to the next. They learn to fear the ankus, a heavy baton with a sharp steel hook on the end, which is used to terrorise them into submission.
- Animals in circuses are subjected to chronic confinement, physical abuse and psychological torment. Whips, ankuses and other weapons are often used to inflict pain on animals and beat them into submission. Animals perform confusing, unnatural tricks – such as riding bicycles, standing on their heads or jumping through rings of fire – not because they want to but out of fear of violent punishment.
- Even when they aren't performing, animals in circuses suffer a lifetime of misery. Their access to water, food and veterinary care may be severely restricted. Dogs are crammed into dirty cages and rarely let out, and birds are confined to small cages and have their wings clipped so that they cannot fly. Horses are kept tethered on short ropes, and elephants are kept chained by their legs.
- The Indian government has already banned the use of bears, monkeys, tigers, panthers, lions and bulls in performances, but no other animals should be made to suffer in circuses either.
- When a circus comes to your town, find out if it using banned animals (bears, monkeys, tigers, panthers, lions and bulls). PETA can provide advice and guidance on what actions to take if you discover that a circus is using these animals.
- Bolivia, Paraguay and Greece have banned the use of all animals in circuses. It's time for India to follow suit.
HOW TO ACT?
- Boycott circuses that use animals.
- Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper detailing the miserable lives of animals in circuses.
- Write to the Ministry of Environment and Forests to encourage them to ban all animals in circuses: http://action.petaindia.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=111&ea.campaign.id=3899
- Share this information on Facebook, IndianPad.com, Twitter, Digg, Mixx and everywhere else that you post online.
- Become an activist at http://www.petaindia.com/action/sign-up-to-be-an-activist.aspx.
CONTACT:
Visit: PETAIndia.org
E-mail: Info@petaindia.org
Call: 022 40727382
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PETAIndia
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PetaIndia