Danbury Ice Arena: No More Animal Circuses

DANBURY, CT — The Danbury Ice Arena's new owner has announced the venue will no longer host animal circuses.

The announcement came on the heels of three days of performances by the Garden Bros. Circus on April 5-7, which drew protesters.

"Diamond Properties is proud to align itself with PETA and its commitment to animal rights causes," said Bill Diamond, cofounder and president of Diamond Properties in a release from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The organization "opposes speciesism, which is the human-supremacist worldview that other animals are commodities," according to the PETA release.

"Diamond Properties is ushering the Danbury Ice Arena into a kinder age, when elephants and camels will no longer be threatened into performing circus tricks under its roof," said PETA Foundation Deputy Director Rachel Mathews.

According to PETA, numerous venues and localities across the country—including in California, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia—have canceled Garden Bros. shows or barred the circus from performing with animals.

"I've actively followed many of the PETA campaigns over the years and believe that as an organization, it has helped advance so many powerful causes. And as the new owner of the Danbury Ice Arena, we're proud to be part not only of this particular cause but also of the PETA mission in general," Diamond said.