According to reports, a trailer hauling animals for the Mizpah Shrine Circus recently caught fire in Indiana, endangering lives and causing a hectic scene that was captured in shocking bodycam video footage. In the clip below, a group of men are seen trying to get a terrified zebra out of the burning vehicle, pulling on ropes fastened to the animal while swearing loudly.
Watch as an Indiana State Police trooper struggles while saving circus animals from a vehicle fire on I-69 late last month.
Graphic language is used in the following video clip.
Viewer discretion is advised. pic.twitter.com/97KPkpP2z8
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The Shriners have been repeatedly warned that it’s already terrifying for these animals to be crammed into trailers, hauled hundreds of miles, and forced to perform tricks that baffle and distress them—but now, being trapped in a fire and likely inhaling toxic smoke have added to their trauma.
Nothing could be further from the quiet, vast plains and woodlands where zebras belong than a traveling circus. Colorful pageantry disguises the fact that animals used in acts are held captive and forced—under threat of punishment—to perform confusing, uncomfortable, repetitious, and often painful tricks.
In the past, runaway zebras have been gunned down, been hit by cars, fallen off cliffs, and sustained deadly injuries. Tigers have escaped and been shot dead.
PETA is calling on the Mizpah Shrine to have a heart, understand that times have changed, and follow the lead of Ringling Bros. and UniverSoul circuses by dropping animal acts altogether.
Tell Shriners International It’s Time for an Update: End Cruel Animal Circuses!
Shriners International claims to be dedicated to compassion and service to others, yet its chapters continue to host notoriously cruel animal circuses.
It’s as black-and-white as a zebra’s stripes: Hauling sensitive animals from town to town inside cramped cages and forcing them to perform tricks under the threat of punishment is a form of speciesism—a human-supremacist worldview—and it must end.
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This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.
