MedicalConspiracies- Eyewitness reports elephant beaten until screaming

Last month, a mother contacted PETA to report an act of appalling cruelty.

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	Elephants and other animals cruelly abused for "entertainment" need you. Will you help them by giving today?   Dear Myra, Last month, a mother contacted PETA to report an act of appalling cruelty. She told PETA that she had just witnessed a handler beat an elephant carrying four children on her back with such force that she "screamed" with each blow. According to the eyewitness, the handler used a stick that appeared to have a sharp hook on the end. That stick is known as a bullhook, a cruel device with a sharp pointed hook. Circus workers ram the bullhook into sensitive parts of elephants' bodies to force them to perform ridiculous tricks that are unnatural and meaningless to them. Will you help PETA do more for these animals by donating right now? The bloody wounds, abscesses, and deep scars that have been seen under the chins or behind the ears and knees of many elephants in circuses bear witness to the misery that these bullhooks can cause. But for these intelligent animals, the years of being separated from loved ones and chained for hours and even days on end as they are shuffled from city to city are no less painful. Elephants—and all animals who are abused and forced to perform for "entertainment"—deserve better. Circuses are cruel places for animals. They're filled with fear, punishment, and extreme loneliness, and elephants are among the most abused animals in their sad menageries. The dismal life of an elephant in a circus is one without freedom or compassion. Female elephants are naturally very caring mothers, raising their young in a nurturing environment where they are protected, comforted, and nursed until the age of 5. Young elephants live in a loving family structure for years, and daughters stay by their mother's side for life. At some circuses, still-nursing baby elephants are captured rodeo-style, roped around all four legs, and dragged from their mothers. From this point on, they are condemned to a life in which almost every movement, every instinct, and every natural behavior is controlled by violent beatings and long hours of intensive confinement—all so that circuses can force them to perform ridiculous tricks. We must stop this abuse. Please give generously today and do more to free elephants and other animals from suffering for the sake of "entertainment." Circuses do everything that they can to keep people from learning about the misery of the elephants and other animals they abuse. But through the sustained efforts of caring people like you, the tide is turning. Cities across the country are enacting ordinances banning the use of bullhooks within their limits—and sometimes even passing outright bans on traveling circuses that use animals. So many caring people are now refusing to pay to watch animal abuse that the lure of cheap—or often free—tickets is increasingly the only way that circuses can convince even uninformed patrons to attend. Despite facing ever-growing opposition to their cruelty, circuses continue to crisscross the country pushing their sad displays of elephants and other beaten and exploited animals from one community to the next. Your support today will help PETA continue to rescue suffering animals from lives of abuse and misery under the guise of "entertainment." Thank you for all that you do to protect animals from this cruelty. Kind regards, Ingrid E. Newkirk President P.S. While a circus performance may last just a couple of hours, the abuse and exploitation of elephants and other animals by circuses may last their entire lives. Donate today and make a difference in the lives of these and other long-suffering animals.
Baby elephant: © Sam Haddock Add DonorE@peta.org to your address book. This e-mail was sent by PETA, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510 USA.