Make a USDA License Mean Something for Exhibited Animals

The exhibitor that supplied the Texas GOP convention elephant has USDA Animal Welfare Act violations dating to 2010 and a critical 2025 safety citation, yet has paid no fines and kept its license.

A letter to your members of Congress. Facts checked June 15, 2026.

The Letter

Subject Real Penalties for Repeat Animal Welfare Act Violators

A federal license is supposed to mean an animal is safe and well cared for. Too often it does not. The company that brought an 8,600-pound elephant to a Texas political convention this month, Trunks and Humps, has been cited by the USDA for repeat animal-handling violations going back to 2010. A federal inspector flagged a critical safety violation in December 2025 after one of the company's camels kicked a woman unconscious at a Houston church event.

The citations are not the real problem. The lack of consequences is. The USDA documented thousands of Animal Welfare Act violations in a single year and filed only a handful of formal complaints. Most violations end in a warning letter, which carries no penalty and stays off the licensee's record. A citation with no consequence changes nothing, for the animals or for the people standing a few feet away.

States are not waiting. At least a dozen have banned or restricted wild animals in traveling shows. Washington did it in 2025. Colorado did it in 2021.

I am asking you to press the USDA to impose real penalties on repeat Animal Welfare Act violators, and to support a federal ban on using wild animals like elephants and big cats in traveling public events. A license should protect animals and the public. Right now it does neither.

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Call Your Representative

U.S. Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121

I'm calling about the USDA's failure to enforce the Animal Welfare Act on traveling animal exhibitors.
The company that brought an 8,600-pound elephant to the Texas GOP convention has repeat USDA handling violations going back to 2010 and a critical safety citation in December 2025 after its camel knocked a woman unconscious at a church.
The USDA logs thousands of Animal Welfare Act violations a year and files only a handful of complaints. Most end in a warning letter with no penalty.
I want my representative to push the USDA to penalize repeat violators and to back a federal ban on wild animals in traveling public events. At least a dozen states already restrict them.

Calls get logged by topic. Volume drives the briefing.

The Facts Behind the Ask

$0 USDA fines for Trunks and Humps despite repeat animal-handling violations since 2010 and a critical 2025 safety citation (source)
12 states that ban or restrict wild animals in traveling shows, including Colorado (2021) and Washington (2025). No federal ban exists (source)
8,600 lbs the elephant, Paige, that Trunks and Humps brought to the Texas GOP convention after Gov. Abbott's speech (source)

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