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Mr. Smith, where are you when we need you? PETA has learned that Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, not content with hiring an ex-CIA agent to spy on us, is now trying to use Congress to bully the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) out of doing its job.

According to sources on Capitol Hill, the staff of the House Committee on Agriculture, at the urging of a lobbyist for Ringling, summoned the USDA to  justify an unannounced inspection (as inspections are supposed to be) that resulted in citations against Ringling for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including failure to provide veterinary care to a young elephant who is suffering from chronic lameness. In response, PETA has sent a letter to the committee chair and ranking member asking for a meeting to discuss Ringling's long history of animal abuse.

When the USDA attempted to perform its inspection, Ringling employees refused to allow the inspectors to enter for more than an hour. Hmmm … makes you wonder what Ringling is trying to hide, doesn't it? 

If you're shocked that Ringling has resorted to hiring spies and using Congress to sweep its abuse of animals under the rug, read this eye-opening Salon article for more on the circus's shady dealings. 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Talk about quick action: Less than 24 hours after PETA contacted Philadelphia's Please Touch Museum to explain how Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus hurts animals, the museum had dismantled its newly installed Ringling exhibit. What's more, a museum spokesperson stated that such an exhibit would not be displayed again! Good on them—or, as PETA's Delcianna Winders put it, "By refusing to promote the circus in the future, the Please Touch Museum is sticking to its mission of educating children—and not misleading them into believing that the circus is a fun, innocent show."

Of course, Ringling is still at it—tying up terrified babies and tormenting them with electric prods and sharp bullhooks—so PETA's still at it, too. We spent Valentine's Day with more than 100 wonderful folks in Atlanta who marched on City Hall to get the word out that Ringling beats animals and to demand action (and you can too!).

Written by Jeff Mackey

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Barack, a 2-year-old elephant calf who was at one point traveling with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, is being treated (again) for elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV). The scientific literature recognizes that stress is strongly associated with EEHV. Ringling has been subjecting baby Barack to the stress of transport, cruel "training," and performances since he was less than a year old.

This is the second time that Barack has been treated for EEHV in his young life, and there is no cure for the disease, which is usually fatal in elephants. It has a staggering 80 percent mortality rate in captive Asian elephants.  

Unless Barack and his mother, Bonnie, are sent to a sanctuary, Barack may very well die from this disease. The circus can make itself truly "The Greatest Show on Earth" by retiring the rest of its elephants too.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

More than a dozen PETA members in Tampa, Florida, recently got a jump-start on telling Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus exactly what they think of the cruelest show on Earth. The protesters showed their disapproval by gathering along the route that the circus's animal train took to the St. Pete Times Forum, where the circus will be performing.

Um, excuse me. Is parading 3-ton animals through the streets safe for anyone?

The protesters received many waves and honks of support from rush-hour drivers, and they plan to reunite for more demonstrations during Ringling's shows.

In other big-top news, two Lansing, Michigan, businesses dropped their sponsorship of the Caravan Circus after learning from PETA and a local student group that elephants  in circuses are beaten with sharp bullhooks and spend most of their lives in chains. PETA is sending both companies a Compassionate Business Award to thank them for taking a stand against circus cruelty.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

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Not convinced that one can make a difference? When University of Florida (UF) student—and former PETA intern—Jared Misner found out that the school's alumni association was offering discounted tickets to the hideously cruel Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, he met with the leaders of the group. After Jared let the alumni association know that PETA exposés have revealed that Ringling abuses animals in fear-based and violent training sessions—dragging baby elephants away from their mothers, slamming them to the ground, gouging them with steel-tipped bullhooks, and shocking them with electric prods—the group pledged never to promote the circus again!

Kudos to Jared, who will receive PETA's One Can Make a Difference Award. And remember, never hesitate to speak out against animal abuse—yours might be the voice that saves an animal's life.

Written by Jeff Mackey

In a bid to stop Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's reign of terror over animals once and for all by getting the circus's exhibitor's license revoked, PETA has submitted more than 700 pages of evidence to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) documenting not only Ringling's long history of violating the federal Animal Welfare Act but also the circus's attempts to cover up the circumstances surrounding animals' deaths.

Just one of many examples is Riccardo, a baby elephant whose fatal fall off a pedestal during a training session (he was euthanized after breaking both hind legs) Ringling originally tried to characterize as "routine play." Another example is Clyde, a lion who died of heat stroke after being confined to a sweltering boxcar in Ringling's animal train while it crossed the Mojave Desert in 109-degree heat. A former trainer told PETA that Ringling tampered with the evidence by installing a non-working water misting system in the boxcar after Clyde died and warned him to not talk about the the circumstances of Clyde's death.

And then there are the hours of video that PETA amassed last year—which show Ringling handlers as they beat elephants in city after city across the country—as well as the damning photos taken by a former elephant trainer that show baby elephants as they are "broken" with ropes, bullhooks, and electric prods.

We think that all this adds up to several hundred pretty good reasons for the USDA to yank Ringling's license. If you agree, please take a minute to drop the agency a line.

Written by Alisa Mullins

Delia's clothing company used to be one of several retailers that sold Ringling Bros. T-shirts.

I say "used to be" because today, the company's CEO contacted us to say that Delia's will be pulling the shirts from its Web site, its stores, and its October catalog by this Friday, September 11.

Thanks to the countless concerned people who took the time to write and call the company to ask it to stop promoting Ringling's cruel treatment of animals.

We hope that you'll take a second to write to Delia's and thank it for making the compassionate decision.

Written by Shawna Flavell

What do the tigers say when Ringling's trainers get too close? Let us prey. Zing!

Well, this week, PETA's touring "tiger" acted out that devious desire for payback. In Rochester, New York, our "tiger" broke out of his cage and shoved his "ringmaster" in—giving her a taste of her own medicine for our first-ever Tiger's Revenge demonstration.

When tigers aren't performing, they're warehoused like widgets and kept in cages barely bigger than their own bodies. So, it would be justice indeed for Ringling's trainers to know what that feels like.

Our "tiger" taunted the "ringmaster" with whips, a bullhook, and other cruel devices that trainers use to force tigers and elephants to perform cruel, unnatural tricks.

Local citizens held signs letting passersby know that Ringling beats animals. After talking to us, seeing the video, or reading the materials, many people said that they would never patronize such a cruel industry.

Written by Liz Graffeo

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Not content with forcing just elephants, tigers, and other exotic animals to perform cheap tricks, Ringling's mobile animal hell has added dogs to its list of prisoners. During a recent appearance on The Early Show, goons from Ringling's new magic act, called "Zing Zang Zoom," dragged along a few sad-looking pups to perform ridiculous tricks in the frikken snow. One terrified pooch shivered as he was hoisted up on a small platform about 30 feet in the air and reluctantly jumped onto a small pillow. In the circus, whether you're an elephant, a dog, or a dove, it's perform or else.

While it's supposed to impress us that these dogs are rescues, the truth is that there's more ugliness to the illusions of "Zing Zang Zoom" than just garish costumes. PETA receives complaints from all over the country about dogs in circuses. Many are starved for attention, left in crates until show time. Others are starved, in the most literal of terms, and fed only when they perform properly. We've heard reports that dogs were forced to perform when injured and that pimps "trainers" made dogs walk on their hind legs, even when not performing, causing them to develop arthritis and other problems with their legs.

Congratulations, Ringling—you've managed to take a giant step backward for caninekind. No worries though. Soon, you'll be as washed up as this guy.

Written by Missy Lane

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Today, lawyers gave their closing arguments in the court case involving Ringling's use of steel-barbed bullhooks and shackles on the elephants it forces to perform. Over the course of the six-week trial, the following evidence was presented:

• Elephants are chained for an average of more than 26 hours at a time, sometimes for as many as 60–100 hours straight on extended trips. Chained and barely able to take a step, the elephants sway neurotically.
• Kenneth Feld—CEO of Feld Entertainment, the company that owns Ringling—had to admit that he's seen handlers use bullhooks to hit elephants in the secret places where the wounds don't show up as much (i.e., under the chin, behind the ear, and on the back of the leg).
• Ringling's animal behaviorist testified that an elephant who had been struck with a bullhook was seen dripping blood on the arena floor during a show.
• In internal e-mails that came to light, a Ringling veterinary assistant reported, "After this morning's baths, at least 4 of the elephants came in with multiple abrasions and lacerations from the [bull]hooks. … The [lacerations] were very visible …. [A handler] applied … wonder dust just before the show." (Wonder Dust is a gray dressing powder that circus workers can use to conceal bloody bullhook wounds.)
• Another internal report documented that Troy Metzler, a longtime Ringling elephant trainer, struck Angelica, a female Asian elephant, three to five times while she was held in stocks before unloading her and then shocking her with an electric prod.
• Two former Ringling employees, who had previously blown the whistle to PETA, described the abuse that they witnessed while working for the circus, including a violent beating of an elephant that lasted at least 30 minutes.

Check back with the PETA Files in the coming months for an update on the verdict. We hope that the elephants win, but regardless of the outcome, the trial has already generated lots of deservedly negative publicity for this miserable circus. And that's a good thing considering how hard Ringling works to put a misleading, positive spin on clamping elephants in irons, dominating and intimidating them with bullhooks, and confining them to boxcars and arena basements for much of their lives.

Written by Alisa Mullins