Garden family circuses: A troubled history

GardenBros

This week the Garden Bros. Circus began three weeks of shows in Florida. The circus is traveling with elephants and camels. Garden Bros. is a new circus, founded in 2015 by Niles Garden. The Garden family has a history of criminal charges, animal cruelty citations, lawsuits and customer complaints dating back three decades. Read more about the troubled history of Garden family circuses here.

A now defunct circus managed by Niles Garden, the Sterling & Reid Bros. Circus, had a sordid record. In 2002, a handler with the circus was arrested in Virginia for beating an elephant bloody during a performance. In 2001, a bear fell out of a circus truck onto a highway in Louisiana and wasn’t discovered missing until 1/2 hour later. In 2001, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported, “The [U.S. Department of Agriculture] has issued more than 30 pages of violations to Sterling & Reid since 1999. And it fined the circus $3,250….”

You Can Help
Join protests against the Garden Bros. Circus in Cocoa (July 6-7) Punta Gorda (July 13) and West Palm Beach (July 23). Additional protests to be scheduled.