Tell Festivals and Fairs to Leave Wild Animals Alone!
At festivals, fairs, carnivals, and other events around the world, many wild animals are denied everything that’s natural and important to them. Often torn away from their families and thrust into a confusing life providing fairgoers with entertainment, they’re forced to give rides, subjected to stressful photo ops with humans, and sometimes even given away as “prizes.”
Wild animals are being exploited at festivals and fairs. But together, we can help them.
Animal Exhibits at Fairs and Festivals Demean and Endanger Living Beings
Traveling wild animal acts at festivals and fairs subject animals to the stress of transport, unfamiliar environments, often irregular feeding and watering, and crowds of strangers. All kinds of animals suffer when they’re carted from town to town and forced to perform meaningless tricks, including lions, tigers, monkeys, and sea lions. These animals are likely living in an almost constant state of discomfort, frustration, depression, and anxiety.
Animal exhibits at fairs and festivals also pose risks to humans. One bear exploited by A Grizzly Experience escaped a fair and wasn’t found for three days, while another clawed a handler’s face in front of frightened spectators. Dramatic video footage shows how a trainer was bitten, clawed, and dragged by a tiger in front of a crowd of elementary school students at a fair in Florida.
When people interact with wild animals, the outcome is hard to predict. There are hundreds of documented incidents in which humans have been injured by big cats, elephants, monkeys, and other wild animals. Even petting zoos have spread diseases and caused human injury.
Animals have their own inherent worth, personalities, and needs. However, at fairs and festivals, smaller ones like hermit crabs and lizards are given away as prizes with little or no instructions for caring for them—leading many to die within weeks.
Thanks to the efforts of kind people like you, times are changing—but there’s still much room for improvement.
We must make our voices and actions for animals impossible to ignore. If you witness animal cruelty at any state or county fair, take action right away. Anyone can file a cruelty-to-animals complaint or ask the local animal control agency to check on an animal in distress.
You can help animals being exploited at fairs and festivals today by completing the PETA Action Alerts below.
—Take Action Now—
Speak up for wild animals who are harmed, exploited, or otherwise used for entertainment at festivals, carnivals, and fairs. Using the form below, you can urge numerous fair and festival organizers to do the right thing by leaving wild animals out of future events.
There are multiple opportunities to help. As soon as you take one action below, another will appear in its place. After you enter your information, just keep clicking “Send Message” until you’ve completed all of them. Once you’ve taken every action, share this page with your friends and family members. Encourage them to add their voices in order to help prevent more animals from becoming a sideshow at a festival or fair.