By Staff Reports

RAINSVILLE, Ala.— A spokesman for Loomis Bros. Circus said their company is proud to continue to include elephants in their performances, despite a trend in recent years from other circuses of making the decision to eliminate the animals from their acts altogether. Scott attributes this trend to negative propaganda and a lack of education on the subject.

“Our goal at Loomis Bros. Circus has always been to present a traditional circus experience, and we believe featuring elephants in our show is an important part of providing that experience,” Director of Business, Media, and Talent Relations for Loomis Bros. Erik Scott said.  “At Loomis Bros. Circus, we pride ourselves in not only giving our patrons what they expect, we aim to exceed those expectations.”

Amidst pressure from animal rights groups, in 2015 the largest traveling circus company in the U.S., Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus announced that they would be phasing out the use of elephants in their performances and would remove the animals from their act altogether by 2018. Many smaller circus companies have followed suit—a decision Scott says is misguided and potentially unhealthy for circus elephants.

Scott says research has shown that elephants that have grown up in the circus do not adjust well to non-circus environments. “We believe that education is the best weapon in the fight towards keeping elephants in the circus and we urge the public to become informed on the subject, and see through the negative propaganda,” Scott said.

“Our show is currently the only circus touring North America with a herd of both Asian and African elephants and we hope to keep it that way,” Scott said. “Many states have already passed, or are in the process of proposing, new laws against the display of elephants, and other animals, in a circus. We urge the public to come out to one of our performances in Rainsville and see these majestic creatures up close and personal, as it quite possible may be their final opportunity to do so.”

The Loomis Bros. Circus will be performing in DeKalb County at the Northeast Alabama Agri-Business Center in Rainsville next week, Feb. 2 through Feb. 3 with 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. showtimes each day.

For more information about next week’s circus, visit the Loomis Bros. online or contact the Northeast Alabama Agi-Business Center.