Los Angeles Area Festival Cancels Elephant Rides

When Animal Defenders International discovered that the Upland Lemon Festival was going to have elephant rides provided by Have Trunk Will Travel, they contacted the city council and showed the organizers undercover footage of how HTWT staff treated the animals: during training sessions, elephants were hit with sticks, shocked, and “hooked” with bull hooks. The Upland City Council and the festival’s venue subsequently cancelled the elephant rides. They join a growing list of events and municipalities including the Orange County Fair, Los Angeles County Fair, Santa Ana Zoo, Fountain Valley and Sierra Madre who are saying no to elephant cruelty.