Nearly Naked PETA Ladies Protesting Ringling Bros.' Circus Use of Elephants

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UPDATED Thursday 1:20 p.m. with photo of protestors, courtesy of PETA via Twitter

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Following an announcement by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus that the circus will phase out its elephant acts by 2018, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is giving circus-goers and others outside the Verizon Center an eyeful in DC on Thursday.

The circus parent company, Feld Entertainment, recently announced it was going to discontinue using elephants in their circus acts and retire them to its sanctuary in Florida, starting in 2018. That isn’t soon enough for PETA.

A PETA protest is scheduled for noon on Thursday outside Verizon Center, located at 601 F. St. NW. The circus has its roots in the area, starting in Northern Virginia, where Bailey’s Crossroads is named for the circus. Parent company Feld Entertainment recently moved its headquarters from Vienna to Florida.

The circus has shows planned in DC at the Verizon Center starting Thursday through Sunday.

The PETA organization notes that PETA ladies—wearing little more than body paint and shackles—will converge outside the Verizon Center Thursday, ahead of Ringling’s scheduled performance, with signs reading: “End Elephant Use and Abuse NOW.”

Their goal, according to a news release, is to turn back would-be audience members by showing that elephants are beaten and that Ringling was recently caught denying veterinary care to suffering elephants—and leaving them chained inside boxcars for up to four days at a time, according to PETA.

“Circus life is no life for elephants, who create deep social bonds and roam many miles a day in their natural homes,” says PETA Foundation deputy general counsel Delcianna Winders. “PETA is calling on kind people everywhere to look out for elephants by staying away from this cruel circus.”

PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” has released dozens of photos taken at Ringling’s training center that expose how they say baby elephants are stretched out, slammed to the ground, gouged with steel-tipped bullhooks, and shocked with electric prods. These abusive sessions, PETA says, last for several hours until the baby elephants learn to perform tricks out of the fear of punishment. PETA supporters will protest outside every circus performance during Ringling’s District stay, the organization says.

PETA says there are five other circuses that also need to get rid of elephants in their acts.