PETA targets Kansas merry-go-round maker over animal-themed carousels

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Animal rights organization, PETA, urged the largest amusement ride manufacturer in Kansas to end the production and sale of animal-themed carousels.

“Children learn through play, and teaching them to have respect and compassion for all living, feeling beings can help create a more just and merciful world,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a press release.

In the release, the organization argued to Chance Rides, a Kansas-based amusement company, that animal-themed merry-go-rounds celebrate exploitation.

PETA implored Aaron Landrum, the president and CEO of Chance Rides, in a letter on Tuesday to end its production of animal-themed carousels and instead produce figures in the shape of cars, airplanes, spaceships, bulldozers and other vehicles.

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This Nov. 14, 2007 file photo shows the carousel in Central Park, in New York.  (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

The PETA president said that the different shaped carousel objects would “engage children’s imagination,” along with “showcasing human talent.”

“PETA urges Chance Rides and all other carousel manufacturers to hit the brakes on old-fashioned animal-themed rides and embrace designs that engage children’s imagination and showcase human talent,” Newkirk said.

PETA argues that the animal-theming contributes to the connotation that animals are used as “conveyances”and “amusement.” 

“PETA sent a letter to Aaron Landrum…asking that the company end the production and sale of animal-themed carousels that normalize the use of animals as conveyances and amusements and instead produce carousel figures in the shape of cars, airplanes, spaceships, bulldozers, and other vehicles or more whimsical designs, like shooting stars, rainbows, or brooms,” PETA wrote.

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk speaks during the PETA Fundraising Event at Private Residence on June 11, 2017 in Malibu, California. (Rich Fury/Getty Images)

The letter to the carousel-maker said that “times change” and that the animal-themed ride “unintentionally” celebrates animal exploitation. 

“Times change, and our understanding of animals has greatly evolved over the past few decades,” the letter said. “Animal-themed carousels unintentionally celebrate the exploitation of sentient beings.”

A girl wearing bunny ears rides the carousel at New Orleans City Park Carousel Gardens Amusement Park during the tenth annual Easter Egg Scramble event.  (New Orleans City Park)

PETA said that often-times animals used for entertainment are mistreated, with the animals confined and “in servitude.”

“Animals used for rides and other forms of entertainment- including camels, horses, elephants, and dolphins-are confined and in servitude, never free to pursue their own lives and interests,” the letter said.

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“They’re also sometimes beaten, tormented, and even slaughtered when their bodies wear out,” the letter added.

A carousel at the christmas market on the Main Square in Gliwice, Poland on December 3, 2022.  (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The letter pointed to a recent PETA Asia investigation that revealed that camels in Egypt are badly beaten and abused.

“All animals are thinking, feeling, affectionate, playful, and social beings who form strong bonds with their offspring if permitted to keep them (a rarity). They crave freedom from oppression,” the letter said. 

“Animal-themed carousel sets reinforce the notion that these sentient beings are simply here for our entertainment, rather than individuals with the same capacity to experience fear, pain, joy, and love as any of us,” the letter said.

Baldwin sent the letter to the CEO of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Group on behalf on animal rights activist group PETA. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

At the end of the letter, Newkirk implored Landrum to pledge to stop producing animal-themed carousels.

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Chance Rides and PETA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. 

She is a native of Massachusetts and is based in Orlando, Florida.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to sarah.rumpf@fox.com and on X: @s_rumpfwhitten.