Former Ringling Bros. Circus Employee Speaks Out in New Public Service Announcement

Archele Hundley, a former Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus employee, has recently teamed up with PETA to make a moving plea to potential circusgoers. Hundley, who witnessed elephant beatings during her time with Ringling, narrates a new public service announcement (PSA) urging viewers to stay away from the circus.

"I saw handlers deliver a beating … for 30 minutes. She was covered with bloody wounds. I'll never forget her agonizing screams," says Hundley in the PSA. "Please never take your children to a Ringling Bros. circus."

Hundley worked on Ringling's animal crew for two months. During that time, she witnessed incidents of abuse, including the following:

• An elephant was beaten with bullhooks so severely in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2006 that she bled profusely and cried out in pain.
• A trainer viciously whipped a camel and punched a miniature horse in the face.
• Trainers jabbed horses with pitchforks and gave them extremely painful "lip twists" to force the animals to obey commands.
• An elephant with painful arthritis was kept on the road.

"The abuse was not just once in a while—it occurred every day," says Hundley. "The elephants, horses, and camels were hit, punched, beaten, and whipped by everyone from the head of animal care down to inexperienced animal handlers hired out of homeless shelters."

Archele says that she repeatedly complained to circus management about the abuse—to no avail, prompting her to quit in disgust.

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