Ringling Bros. Circus - Get Out of Town! LCA Helping Lead Largest Circus Protests in the U.S.

Last Chance for Animals Co-Organizing Rally Against Ringling Bros. Circus; Hundreds Are Expected at the Opening-Night Protest


LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 7, 2014) - Last Chance for Animals (LCA), along with other animal advocacy groups, will be protesting the Ringling Bros. circus at the Los Angeles Staples Center, starting with the opening night demonstration Wednesday, July 9 at 5:30 p.m.

Attendance at the opening night protest is expected to be the largest circus protest in the nation and draw more participants than last years' record number. Activists will be educating circus goers on the cruel practices trainers use to discipline elephants, tigers and other circus animals using whips, electric shocks and bull hooks. Circus animals are kept in chains or tiny cages and also crammed into trailers or boxcars while traveling. They travel up to 100 hours straight and are on the road for 11 months of the year.

Bull hooks are used to inflict pain and subdue elephants in order to force them into performing tricks. The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously in October 2013 to ban the use of bull hooks and other tools designed to inflict pain on elephants. The new law will essentially ban traveling circuses like Ringling Bros. within Los Angeles city limits, however, it does not go into effect until the beginning of 2017.

Protest against Ringling Bros. Circus will be held Wednesday, July 9 through Tuesday, July 15, with participants gathering at the intersection of S. Figueroa St. and Chick Hearn Court.

The protest schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, July 9, Opening Night 5:30-8pm
Thursday, July 10, 10:45am-12pm and 6-7:30pm
Friday, July 11, 10:45 am-12pm and 6-7:30pm
Saturday, July 12, 10:15-11:30am, 2-3:30pm, and 6-7:30pm
Sunday, July 13, 10:15-11:30am, 2-3:30pm, and 6-7:30pm
Monday, July 14, 6-7:30pm
Tuesday, July 15, 10:45am-12pm and 6-7:30pm

Last Chance for Animals is an international animal advocacy organization that fights for the rights of animals by conducting undercover investigations that expose animal cruelty and launching public awareness campaigns. LCA's Special Investigations Unit travels the world to document abuse in research labs, puppy mills, factory farms and the entertainment industry. For more information, visit www.LCAnimal.org.

Ringling Bros. employee with bull hook