There aren’t many folks in America who don’t at least know there’s controversy surrounding circuses that use animals. So it always surprises me when a company like Denny’s jumps into bed with the animal abusing freak show that is Ringling Bros. circus. But, it surprised me even more when Denny’s CEO Nelson Marchioli refused to even talk with us about the issue, despite having been provided with an abundance of documentation, including videotapes, government documents, and testimony from former Ringling employees.

We wrote, we called, we called, and we called again, but Mr. Marchioli just wasn’t interested in joining more compassionate companies like General Mills, Burger King, Liz Claiborne, MasterCard, Visa, Ford Motor Company, and Sears, Roebuck and Co., all of whom ended their sponsorships of circuses that use animals. So, we’re proud to launch our new Web site: DeadlyDennys.com. Apparently Marchioli is OK with the beatings, neglect, confinement, and death that go on behind the scenes at Ringling, but I have a feeling his customers and investors won’t take too kindly to Denny’s family-friendly image being associated with such abuse.

So, check out DeadlyDennys.com, and be sure to share it with everyone you know. And oh, here is the link to contact Denny’s directly, to let them know what you think of their support of cruelty.

My friend and colleague Jason Bayless has been on tour with Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus for three long months now, and I figured it was about time we had a look back at his tireless efforts to make sure that anyone who goes to a Ringling event in any state gets the elephants' side of the story too. Check out the slideshow of the tour that he sent me today:

PETA's Circus Specialist RaeLeann Smith, and former Ringling employee Archele Hundley, just got back from the National Conference of State Legislators, where they spoke with over 80 state legislators who heard Archele's account of daily abuse at the circus. The pair also distributed over 400 Training & Tragedy DVDs to this influential group.

One high point in the conference was when a group of kids from Project Citizen stopped by our booth to watch the video, and it got them so riled up that they stormed over to Ringling's booth, which was located conveniently behind ours, to grill them about what they had just witnessed. The kids backed away as the Ringling goons tried to hand them free bags and shirts, and at one point, they even asked to take our display bullhook to Ringling to confront them. In the end, despite Ringling’s best efforts, the kids weren't buying it, and told RaeLeann and Archele "They just lied to us; they claim they use treats to train the elephants. Yeah right!"

Face it Ringling, your days are numbered. This generation of kids is just too smart for you . . .

Here's the video that changed those kids' lives.

For one reason or another, Taiwan is proving to be something of a golden child these days when it comes to passing progressive legislation that benefits animals. If things continue this way, the Dutch are going to need to start watching their backs or they'll lose their current status as "most animal-friendly country" before you can say "Dude, where the hell did you get these 'animal-friendly-country' statistics from anyway?" Under Taiwan's latest piece of legislation, the Wildlife Conservation Law, all animal circuses will be banned, exports of exotic animals as pets will be prohibited, and the punishment for "harassing, hurting, or abandoning animals" will include a maximum one-year prison term. Way to go, Taiwan!

Just a quick bit of good news for you to start off your Tuesday: According to last week’s Taipei Times, a new amendment to Taiwan’s Wildlife Conservation Law means that animal circuses are on the way out in Taiwan. When interviewed about the progressive new law, legislator Tien Chiu-Chin said, "Circuses do not need animals to be fun and successful. … Most important, by exposing our children to wild animals through circus acts, we are setting an incorrect example of how humans should interact with animals." 'Nuff said, Tien Chiu-Chin. Here's hoping the U.S. wakes up and follows Taiwan's example. You can read the full story here.

With hundreds of people standing in line waiting for tickets last week, the Lewis and Clark Old-fashioned Circus just folded up its tents and slinked off into the night. (OK, whatever—it was daytime, and circuses probably can't slink exactly, but I need a bit of creative license here.) The reason for all the drama was that York City Manager Trey Eubanks had decided at an emergency meeting with city leaders that the circus had failed to meet safety guidelines and that three caged tigers used by the circus posed a danger to York citizens. You can read our letter thanking the city here. While it admittedly may have sucked a little for everyone waiting in line to go see the circus, it's awesome to see a city recognizing the dangers—not to mention the brutality—of animal circuses and booting them out of town. Nice work, York!

Here’s a great story about a group of kids in Longmont, CO, protesting the circus there. The kicker: The circus boss got arrested for making lewd comments to the female protesters. Sounds like a classy guy . . .

The protesters kept their composure and gave a great interview to the paper, including this solid quote: “In this day and age, you’d think we’re past where we need animals to do stupid tricks to entertain us.” As one of the activists pointed out, the arrest of the circus manager was not a little ironic, given that the deputies were called out to the fairgrounds in the first place because of the protest.

Anyway, I got a kick out of that. Just more evidence that the abusive, foul-mouthed circus managers ought to be enough to scare most people away ... even if those freaky-ass clowns don't do the trick.

drinkstuff.com/Creative Commons

allstarz.hollywood.com/Creative Commons

Just a quick little tidbit for you, because this was just too good to leave unremarked: Did anyone catch David Letterman's comments about Ringling coming to Madison Square Garden on his show last night?

"Ringling Brothers circus is coming back to Madison Square Garden. How about that? What they do, they bring the elephants right through the tunnel in midtown. … And New Yorkers don't care about elephants. Honest to god, we have rats bigger than that. I love going to the circus: what is more American than eating cotton candy and watching animal abuse? Am I right?"

You rule, Dave.

The first time I saw Steven Glover, more commonly known as Steve-O, was in the opening credits of Jackass: The Movie. Steve-O and about eight of his best friends had all climbed into a shopping cart and pushed off from the top of a massive hill to see how long it would take before they smashed into a wall, flying onto the concrete and sustaining various potentially career-ending injuries. I would never have dreamed that it was possible for Steve-O to do something even awesomer than that—until the other week when he sat down with those wild, fun-loving hipsters in PETA's youth division, peta2, to talk about his experience at Ringling's clown college, and his thoughts about the circus's treatment of animals. Yes, I know "awesomer" isn't a word, but if anything merits it, this interview does. Definitely check it out if you haven’t seen it yet.

So a little while back, we had this brilliant idea for a web feature, which was going to be called "PETA’s Top 10 Reasons to Go to Ringling Circus." The idea was that it would secretly be, like, 10 reasons not to go, except cleverly disguised in a different format. Or something. I don't remember exactly—but I do remember that the meeting where we discussed it was really fun, and people were laughing a lot. Unfortunately, once the hilarity had died down and we actually wrote up the text, it just didn't come out quite right—turns out it may have been one of those "you had to be there" type of things. It seemed like a shame to just let the feature die though, so I bravely volunteered to post it right here on this very blog. Just don't blame me if you don't think it's funny.

Anyway, here it is. Ten PETA points to anyone who posts a comment with a reason that's better than ours. Who knows, maybe it’ll mean salvation for this feature.

P.S. PETA points don’t really exist.

10. Even the dullest show on earth is more exciting than your pitiful life.

Get a life! Animal abuse and domination is not entertainment or education. You can enjoy modern circuses that don’t use ho-hum animal acts, such as Cirque Du Soleil. Or come up with some great old-fashioned family entertainment, such as a day trip to a museum or nature preserve or family picnic at a local park. Or God forbid you actually do something active with your kids, like roller skating or a hike!

9. Coming from a broken family, you feel right at home among the animals who have been ripped from their families.

Baby elephants as young as 1 ½ years of age are torn from their mothers to be broken, trained, and sent out on the road. Four baby elephants born at Ringling’s breeding compound have died since 1998. One fractured both hind legs when he fell from a circus pedestal, another drowned trying to escape a trainer, another got sick and died on the road and one died when she was just a few weeks old.

8. You want to show your kids where they’ll end up if they don’t do well in school.


Convicts and Criminals and Felons, oh my! From Ringling head elephant trainer Sacha Houcke (who was fined for beating his daughter) to Spanky the Clown (child pornography) to a murderer on parole and an acrobat arrested for sexual battery – Ringling’s had them all. Can you say “The Most Unsavory Show on Earth?”

7. You want to teach your kids demeaning of life.

Teaching kids about wild animals by taking them to the circus is like teaching them about sex by showing them porno movies. The circus teaches your kids that chaining, caging, whipping and beating animals is acceptable – a bad lesson considering that learning and development experts stress that “Children should see adults treating animals with dignity and respect at all times.”

6. You think $40 on sno-cones is money well-spent.

You won’t be alone if you stay home instead of going to the Ringling Circus. Attendance at circuses is down while prices for concessions – sno-cones, soft drinks, programs and kids’ toys are way up. Plan on squandering several hundred dollars for a family of four to visit the circus this year.

5. It’s like When Animals Attack meets Russian roulette!

At least 12 humans have been killed and more than 100 injured in the U.S. by rampaging elephants. An elephant in a circus traveling in Hawaii killed her trainer and injured another circus worker – it took 87 shots from pistols, rifles, and high powered weapons to stop her. Other elephants have injured and killed trainers and spectators. Are you sure you want to enter your family in the Death-by-Elephant Lottery by going to the circus?

4. If you don’t help the circus owner pay his fines and legal fees for animal abuse who will?

Ringling management forked over $20,000 to settle charges for the death a baby elephant who was forced to perform while sick; $51,305 in legal fees in a PETA lawsuit; and more fines may be on the way with multiple investigations open by the USDA and a lawsuit for violating the Endangered Species Act.

3. You believe that an elephant trainer who beat his daughter would be kind to animals.

Ringling head elephant trainer Sacha Houcke pled guilty in May 2005 for beating his own daughter. Lucky for his daughter that Sacha didn’t use the same bullhook on her that he frequently uses on elephants.

2. You think that 2000 years in captivity isn’t nearly long enough to understand elephants’ need for vast spaces.

Elephants have been exhibited in captivity since before the birth of Christ. Despite Ringling’s claims of education and conservation, there are fewer elephants in the wild today than ever before and those in captivity often die prematurely from health problems caused by a lack of space. While most of Ringling’s elephants were captured in the wild, none of the baby elephants born at its breeding compound can ever be released into the wild because they won’t know how to survive.

1. You’re a sucker, plain and simple

P.T. Barnum allegedly said “there is a sucker born every minute.” He might have been talking about people who spend good money to see animals abused at the circus (and pay for those $13 ‘souvenir’ programs).

Did you get this far? Congratulations! Remember, 10 precious PETA points for every reason you can come up with that's better than ours. Don't everybody shout at once.

OK, so this title is lame. Forgive me. But I just had to give a shout out to international it girl Shilpa Shetty for last night’s win on the British reality show “Celebrity Big Brother.” Gorgeous Bollywood actor, reality show star, international celebrity, and the star of this stunning PETA India ad illustrating the misery of animals used in circuses. Seriously, is there anything this girl can’t do?

I’ve got a feeling we’ll all be seeing a lot more of Shilpa in the future . . .