The Renaissance Festival is still offering elephant and camel rides and painting the elephant.  Essex, the elephant is 43 years old!  Thomas the camel is 10. This is known to be cruel, it causes great anxiety to the animal.  It is time for the festival to join so many other organizations and stop this inhumane practice. 

The owner of the elephant and camel rides is Florida-based Frank Murray. His company, Elephant Walk, owns the 43-year-old female Asian elephant Essex and 10-year-old dromedary camel Thomas. Murray has been giving animal rides at the Renaissance festival for more than 20 years. Murray was part of the fight against the failed Anne Arundel County bull hook ban in 2015 and fights legislation against animal acts around the country. In 1996, a warrant was issued for Murray’s arrest with the New Jersey Humane Law Enforcement. Murray was charged with four counts of cruelty to animals and paid about $3,000 in fines in 2011. He said information on the charges was sent to a false address, and that in the 15 years between the warrant and his arrest he was still being inspected by the state of New Jersey and got licenses on a regular basis. 

Please sign this petition and insist that they allow the elephant and camel to live the rest of their lives at a sanctuary.  Tell them that you will boycott the festival and encourage others to do so, unless the next festival is elephant free. Obviously, the only thing that matters to rennfest, is money.  Let's take it away unless the stop the rides.