Gallery Carre
Whips and Chains Belong in the Bedroom, Says PETA’s Devilish Dom
Feb 24th, 2006 by Audacia Ray
Cincinnati — Provocatively whipping and chaining her willing partner below a banner that reads, “Whips and Chains Belong in the Bedroom, Not in the Circus,” PETA’s sultry vinyl-clad “dominatrix,” Amandah Povilitus, will protest the suffering of animals at the hands of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on Monday while other people hand out leaflets. The protest will highlight Ringling’s use of whips, chains, and other instruments of torture in order to force animals to perform:
Date: Monday, February 27
Time: 12 noon-1 p.m.
Place: Corner of Sixth and Vine
Why does Ringling have PETA’s lovely dominatrix whipped into a frenzy? PETA wants people to know that in order to force animals to perform stressful acts, trainers use whips, muzzles, electric prods, and bullhooks with metal tips that are jabbed into elephants’ sensitive skin on their thighs and behind their ears. In their native homelands, the animals would be free to walk and run, choose lifetime companions, and raise their families. Instead, the circus forces them to perform confusing acts night after night for 48 to 50 weeks every year. Between acts, elephants are kept chained up like bicycles, and bears and tigers are stored in cages that are barely even large enough for them to turn around.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has cited Ringling for numerous violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act—including failure to provide veterinary care to a dying baby elephant—is currently conducting three open investigations of Ringling regarding the death of a baby elephant, the death of a young lion, and the alleged beating of an elephant—an incident that was caught on videotape.
“It’s one thing for consenting adults to use whips and chains in the privacy of their own homes,” says Amandah Povilitus. “But beating animals into performing confusing and painful tricks is nothing short of animal abuse.”
Broadcast-quality video footage of animals in circuses is available. For more information, please visit PETA’s Web site Circuses.com.
Good enough for a man, but not good enough for an Elephant? I feel like that’s not a good way to make a point.
bad man:
if you’re too thick to get the point, the demonstration was a lighthearted way to grab media attention for elephants and other animals that are whipped, chained, and abused every day in the circus. PETA’s message is that whips and chains are okay for adults to use in the privacy of their homes for fun, but it is not okay that Ringling brutally beats their animals with the same. It is not fun for elephants to be chained like bicycles, transported in freezing cold/sweltering boxcars (based on the season), and beaten the rest of the time. We live in a tabloid society where racy headlines overpower the saddening animal abuse ones. Lighten up.