Enfin! The Curtain Comes Down on Animals at the Moulin Rouge!
Animal exploitation has no place in 2023 – least of all on stage. After announcing it was ending its python act, legendary Parisian cabaret venue the Moulin Rouge has now informed PETA UK that its shows will no longer feature any animals, wild or domestic.
In reply to a letter sent by the group, the chair of the executive board said that the attraction would no longer put on “our show named ‘the little horses’, meaning that our venue will have put an end to a long animal tradition that has existed since the creation of the Moulin Rouge in 1889”.
There’s No Mountain Too High When Animals Need Us
This news has been a long time coming! For over a decade, PETA entities have been calling on the Moulin Rouge to stop treating animals as living props for human amusement. We celebrate its decision to get with the times and recognise that the use and abuse of animals in the name of entertainment is no longer acceptable to compassionate viewers.
There’s no need to use animals at the cabaret. The dancers performing at the Moulin Rouge have long been renowned for providing quality entertainment and attracting spectators from all around the world. We encourage other venues still exploiting animals in dated shows to follow suit.
Animals Are Not Props, Not Clowns, Not Comedians
Many shocked spectators had testified to their displeasure at seeing sentient beings used as if they were mere show props.
Animals exploited for entertainment live a life of distress and deprivation. In this industry, wild animals are usually trained through fear and violence, as revealed by PETA US in its investigation into a Hollywood animal trainer. When they are not forced to perform, they are often kept in small cages and deprived of exercise, enrichment, and companionship. And when they are no longer useful to trainers, many of them do not find retirement in a sanctuary but are sold or slaughtered.
Leave Cruel Animal Shows to Yesterday
Wherever you are, please don’t support shows that exploit animals. Attend only animal-free performances, where you can marvel at the antics of dancers, aerialists, and acrobats who have chosen to become entertainers – which is far more fun than watching sad animals forced to perform against their will.
Come what may, we will keep campaigning against pastimes that abuse animals. Join us. Add your name to these urgent petitions and e-mails:
Let’s make 2025 a historic year for animals
