PETA Wants Answers About Elephants On I-49

Tuesday morning a trucker driving from New Orleans to Dallas got his rig off the shoulder of the freeway into the soft ground. His trailer began to  tip over so he had to act quickly. He did. He unloaded his cargo of elephants and used the behemoths to help support the trailer until a tow truck could arrive to help pull him out of the mud.

It seemed like a good idea to a lot of people. It didn't seem like a good idea to PETA. PETA is the acronym for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 

In an article published by Yahoo News, Brittany Peet, Deputy Director for Captive Animal Law Enforcement said,

“This was incredibly dangerous for the elephants and for the traffic going by. It was careless and reckless on the part of the circus. It’s just one more example of the reasons that elephants should not be used for entertainment. It really goes to show why it’s so important that Ringling Bros. recently made the decision to phase out elephant acts in their circuses by the year 2018. It underscores the urgent need for every other circus to do the same.”

The elephants, Jenny and Vicki, were part of the Shrine Circus that was making its way from New Orleans to Dallas. Obviously holding up 18-wheelers is not a part of their act but in this case it's probably a good thing they were available. Bill Cunningham in the same report published by Yahoo News said this about PETA's charges.

“The elephants were never at risk. They are so emotional that they sense danger and stress, and it was amazing how these two elephants knew what they needed to do.” And as for the driver’s decision to pull the tractor-trailer to the side of the highway. We stand by the driver’s decision to get rest and get off of the major interstate. He did the right thing.”

I supposed the two sides will simply have to agree to disagree over whether any harm was done. No chargers were filed against the driver of the tractor trailer and after his rig was pulled from the soft shoulder of the interstate he was allowed to continue on to Dallas.