MASON CITY – A circus planned in Mason City later this month will be protested, led by a Mason City woman.
The Shrine Circus will be held May 17, 20 and 21 at the North Iowa Events Center, according to its website, inside the All Seasons Building.
Protestors plan to be on hand, nearby. A protest organizer says “We will be peacefully protesting OUTSIDE of the gates on highway 18 and Eisenhower at the above times. We will be there until the event starts at 5pm and 730pm each day to reach the maximum amount of exposure as possible and we need AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE.”
According to Breanna Mae Flores of Mason City, who told NIT last month she planned to help set up the protest, the circus serves up “inhumane and abusive conditions” for animals forced to participate. She was working on a petition to give to the circus, asking for better treatment of animals.
“This is our 2nd year in a row petitioning the George Carden Circus,” she told NIT. “Last year (May 2014) as a guest in the audience, I witnessed animal cruelty at the hands of a whip that was used on 6 Tigers in the show, Bullhooks (a rod with a razor sharp hook on the end) to push the Elephants around and force them to perform, and whip scars on the buttocks of a Camel. We are standing up for Animal Rights and want this to stop.”
