Join us on Sunday, September 10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.for a peaceful and legal protest of the exotic animal rides at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Help us educate the public about why they should skip these rides and instead enjoy the activities that don’t hurt animals.
Many people who jump at the chance to get close to animals by buying exotic animal rides probably wouldn’t if they knew about the suffering the animals endure. The violence that goes into training animals used for rides isn’t seen by the public because the owners of these operations know that people would be enraged if they knew how the animals are beaten into submission. Elephants have to be made so frightened of the bull hook the handler carries that they will behave in front of spectators.
These animals are trucked around the country from site to site in small trailers or trucks. In the wild, they have extensive social networks and travel miles on foot every day. But when they’re sentenced to being amusement park rides they plod in boring circles day after day with hundreds of pounds of their back, for hour upon boring uncomfortable hour.
The MN Ren Fest continues to feature these rides, despite their parent company having discontinued the elephant rides at its Kansas City Ren Fest. Please take the time to comment on the Ren Fest Facebook page.
Photo by Captured by Brooke Photography at this year’s MN Ren Fest. As one of the elephants was begging for water, the handler poked her with his bull hook and gave her a Coke.