PETITION TARGET: Prince William County Board of Supervisors, Manassas City Leadership
Bears, elephants, tigers, and zebras are just some of the wild animals being forced to perform unnatural “tricks” and exploited in the name of “entertainment” in traveling circuses — including one that’s soon coming to Manassas in Prince William County, Virginia.
Meanwhile, sentient bulls and horses also are suffering in cruel traveling rodeos that come to the area.
Animals don’t deserve to be harmed for people’s amusement, and it’s time for the city and the county to put an end to this preventable misery by banning all cruel traveling acts involving animals.
Wild animals forced to perform for people’s viewing pleasure often endure brutal “training” methods, including being whipped, hit with sharp bullhooks, and jabbed with electric prods. They’re often forced to travel for days at a time in all weather extremes and are kept confined in cramped, filthy cages when away from the spotlight.
Wild animal acts also can be a great danger to the public, as animals who have been beaten and bullied for years can quickly turn on their handlers or injure the public.
Cruelty also is inherent in the rodeo industry, where animals have electric prods, flank straps, wire tie-downs, lassos, and sharpened or fixed spurs used on them, the brutality of which can cause them to behave “aggressively” for people’s amusement. Bulls, horses, calves, and steers also often have their backs, ribs, and legs broken, suffer internal organ damage, and endure agonizing and preventable deaths.
The good news is that circuses and other wild animal acts have been banned in several countries, states, and cities across the world — including Costa Rica, California, and Asheville, North Carolina.
Meanwhile, numerous places also have restrictions on cruel rodeos — including in nearby Leesburg, Virginia. San Francisco, San Juan Capistrano, and Pasadena in California, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Fort Wayne, Indiana also have restrictions to curtail animals’ agony.
There is no good reason for cruel and outdated circuses and rodeos to exist ANYWHERE, especially in Prince William County, which is less than 40 miles away from our country’s capital.
Sign our petition today urging officials in Prince William County and the city of Manassas to take a stand against cruelty to animals and ban wild and traveling animal acts for good!
