PETA to Protest Jordan World Circus Tuesday in Butte

Remember when that elephant escaped from the circus and ran amok through Butte?  If you don’t, well, that was not a misleading sentence.  Anyone who was around definitely remembers the date almost two years ago when Viola, a then 54-year-old Asian Elephant got free from the Jordan World Circus, which was performing at the Butte Civic Center, and took an afternoon jaunt down Harrison Avenue.

That’s not something that you easily forget.  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals certainly remembers.

PETA is doing more than remembering.  On Tuesday at the corner of Civic Center Road and Harrison Avenue, the group and its supporters will be protesting the Jordan World Circus’ shows in the Mining City by deploying a 20-foot-tall “crying elephant” along with signage reading “Chained. Beaten. Desperate.  Free Viola the Elephant” claiming the circus and handlers regularly use cruel practices.  PETA claims that show elephants are stripped from their matriarchal herds and are trained using sharp, steel-tipped bullhoooks which are twisted into the animals’ flesh to the point of screaming.  They claim that Viola, now 56, is forced to perform grueling and painful tricks in shows while suffering from chronically swollen feet along with other ailments.

"PETA is calling on Jordan World Circus to end these archaic and cruel animal acts, and for everyone to stay away until they do." - Tracy Reiman, President, PETA

Tracy Reiman is the President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and she says that the Butte escape was one of at least four times that Viola had attempted to flee the circus and the reason is obvious.  “While some people run away to join the circus, Viola the elephant keeps trying to run away from the circus, where she’s spent a lifetime suffering in chains and servitude,” she said while calling on the Jordan World Circus to take action.  “PETA is calling on Jordan World Circus to end these archaic and cruel animal acts, and for everyone to stay away until they do.”

For further information on PETA’s Butte protest or other topics, please contact David Perle at DavidP@peta.org.