Jillian Michaels isn’t just passionate about motivating people to lose weight and get in shape. The fitness expert is also passionate about promoting the health and welfare of the elephants who perform for Ringling Bros. Circus. Michaels and other animal-loving demonstrators staged a large protest in Los Angeles this week to raise awareness of the abuse the Ringling elephants are enduring.
Jillian Michaels isn’t just passionate about motivating people to lose weight and get in shape. The fitness expert is also passionate about promoting the health and welfare of the elephants who perform for Ringling Bros. Circus. Michaels and other animal-loving demonstrators staged a large protest in Los Angeles this week to raise awareness of the abuse the Ringling elephants are enduring.
Elephants are the biggest losers
As we reported on SheKnows.com July 20, Jillian Michaels and many other animal rights advocates are disgusted with the treatment of circus elephants, and are on a mission to call attention to the poor quality of life the elephants owned by Ringling Bros. are suffering.
“Their enslavement by the circus means [elephants] spend their lives in chains and stuffy train cars with no freedom to roam, and they suffer painful, fatal ailments that come from such a stressful existence,” says Michaels. PETA.org reports that many of the circus elephants have crippling arthritis, which is a leading cause of euthanasia.
Celebrity support of animal rights
Michaels wasn’t the only celeb to join the July 21 protest outside the Los Angeles Staples Center. Producer Sam Simon, Twilight’s Christian Serratos, The Secret Life of the American Teenager’s Renee Olstead were alongside the fitness expert. According to PETA, other elephant-loving celebrities, such as Sophia Bush, Kellan Lutz, Alicia Witt and more, protested via Twitter.
Sarah Silverman not laughing about circus animals
Joining the fight against circus animal abuse, comedian Sarah Silverman wrote a letter on behalf of PETA to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asking that four ailing elephants traveling with the Ringling Bros. Circus be seized.
She writes, “Performing circus tricks is a painful struggle for these animals … Yet Ringling’s elephant handlers — who have zero vet experience — continually stab the animals with sharp metal rods called bullhooks in order to keep them performing despite their ailments.”
Get involved
PETA urges animal lovers to never attend any animal circus performance, and contact PETA’s Action Team to help plan a demonstration when the circus comes to your city. You can also contact Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to voice your concern for the welfare of the Ringling Bros. circus elephants.
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