Darien, Connecticut — Connecticut-based animal rights organizations Friends of Animals and Animal Rights Front are encouraging the public to protest the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in a demonstration outside their opening performance in Bridgeport, Connecticut on October 29th from 6:00-7:30 pm. The event will be held outside the Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard.

Among the animals Ringling will bring to Bridgeport are elephants, tigers, camels, zebras, llamas, and horses.

“Circuses with animal acts rob animals of the respect and dignity they deserve, and teach young people in the audience to view commercial expoloitation as entertainment,” says Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals.

“These animals are coerced into doing things they would not naturally do. Elephants will not balance on their feet unless they fear humans. Tigers don’t naturally jump through flaming hoops. Elephant trainers regularly jab sharp metal hooks into sensitive areas of an elephant’s head and trunk, and tigers are chained and choked with ropes to subdue them. Also, Africa’s zebras have an unknown quality that defies domestication. Imagine the despair of these animals, condemned to a life of being entertainment for others,” Feral adds.

An informed public outgrows animal circuses. Towns that have prohibited wild animal circus acts include: Stamford, Conn.; Hollywood and Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.: Boulder, Colo.; Pasadena and Corona Calif.; Takoma Park, Md.; Provincetown, Quincy, Braintree, Revere and Weymouth Mass.; Redmond, Wash.; and Greenburgh, NY.