Parents and children alike gathered outside the Matthew Knight Arena on Friday August 26th, but not to see the circus inside. Instead, at least 100 citizens, including PETA volunteers, families, and students all gathered to protest the Ringling Bros. And Barnum and Bailey’s Circus, infamous for their abuse to their animals.
The main focus of the protest was the mistreatment of the elephants during training and travel, as well as the cages used. Protesters had signs, dressed up in elephant and ringleader costumes, and handed out comic books called “An Elephant’s Life” describing the plight of an elephant in a circus.
Spread out across the entrance, it is impossible not to run into some of the protesters.
Kat Coyer and Tasha Roberts decided to protest after discovering the event on Facebook.
“Ringling Bros. has a long history of being abusive, especially when they’re training them [elephants] when their young,” Coyer said. “They are continuously using bull hooks and other things to hurt their animals.”
Coyer knows first hand how cruel the treatment is, as she saw the abuse as a small child.
“Ringling Bros. is capitalizing on the animal abuse,” Coyer said. “We really want to educate people about this.”
Roberts was there due to Coyers involvement, but she also fully believed in the cause.
“We both work at a vet, so this is important for both of us,” Roberts said. “There’s a lot of ignorance about the circus.”
One of the leaders of the protest, Misha English has been through the protest routine before. She is a part of a citizen group that protests often in the Eugene area, specifically the mistreatment of animals at the Lane County Fair.
“For me this is two fold,” English said. “The first part is to let the University know our dismay and despair that they allowed an animal circus to be brought to Eugene. The second is to educate the public.”
With as many people as there were, they had to organize themselves so they would not get in trouble with the Eugene Police or patrons.
“There was lots of communication made between the police and us,” English said. “We always felt they were very cordial with us.”
The police provided them outlines of where they were allowed to stand and worked with them so that the University, the city and the protesters were happy.
“It is very much a peaceful protest,” Coyer said.
However, patrons were not as thrilled as some circus goers argued with the protesters to not ruin the circus for their kids.
Still English insists it has been an overall quiet protest.
“I think the patrons have been very respectful overall,” English said. “If they don’t want to see it, they look away, or walk away.”
The protesters are planning on being at both shows tomorrow, as well as the one on Sunday.