Betty Needs You Now!

Fifty year old elephant Betty has lived a lifetime of suffering.

Captured from her home in Thailand at the age of just three years old, she was sold into the George Carden International Circus in 1986 where she has been forced to perform cruel circus tricks and to give rides ever since.

The Carden family continues to force Betty to perform despite the fact that she is chronically lame. She does not bend her left front ankle, which is evident when she walks or give rides. Betty also continually drags her trunk along the ground as she walks. It appears that she is using her trunk as a crutch to remain balanced or to hold her upright. Her impairment could pose a serious public health hazard should her lameness result in a fall while she was performing or giving rides.

In performance after performance, CompassionWorks International has found Betty exhibiting these clear signs of suffering, yet the Carden family and the USDA do nothing to help her.

Presently the Carden family has rented Betty out to Garden Bros Circus, where she is provoked to give rides and do tricks by Larry Carden. Garden Bros performs up to three times per day, which means that Betty is giving up to three hours of rides and three performances per day. Afterward, she is loaded on a truck and driven hundreds of miles only to do it all again.

Another Carden family elephant named Jenny lived a similar life of performance and tricks despite having health issues, and the USDA did nothing to help her. Jenny died. Isn’t it time the USDA DID THEIR JOB and took action for animals used and abused in traveling circuses?

Please join CWI in calling on the USDA to do their job: Sign and share our petition!