OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Global animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced it will stage a protest outside the Loomis Bros. Circus production coming to Ocala’s Southeastern Livestock Pavilion next week.
PETA, a group long known for its rather, er, spectacular approach to protests, is calling for the retirement of Okha, “a 56-year-old, morbidly obese elephant who struggles to move but is still being forced to perform and give rides,” according to a press release.
Recently published reports state the older elephant is still traveling and performing with Loomis Bros. Circus.
PETA supporters plan to “deploy a giant ‘crying elephant'” at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 2, 2026, to coincide with the Loomis Bros. Circus’s first performance of this Ocala tour stop at 7:30.
The organization claims Okha has been kept “in isolation” since 2022 and is being forced to perform despite her advanced age and less-than-athletic condition. PETA also claims that third-party animal handler Brian Franzen, Okha’s owner, has been charged with animal cruelty; he was actually cited for failing to provide adequate veterinary care for a different elephant in 2019, and given a verbal warning regarding public-safety violations in 2020. Video of Franzen getting aggressive with his bullhook (a metal rod with a curved end and pointed tip used for “encouraging” elephants to perform their tricks) has been widely circulated.
“For more than 50 years of sheer exploitation, Okha has been denied any freedom, companionship, or opportunity to live as an elephant should, and now she staggers about in pain,” said PETA Foundation Managing Director of Captive Wildlife Debbie Metzler, in the release. “PETA wants Loomis Bros. to stop the cruelty and allow this ailing, elderly elephant to retire to a reputable sanctuary where she can finally live in peace and urges everyone to stay away from circuses that still use animals.”
PETA last (ahem) made a splash in Ocala when they protested the opening of a Raising Cane’s chicken franchise on College Road by, among other things, dousing a portion of sidewalk outside the restaurant with fake blood.