Elephant rides to end at Kansas City Renaissance Festival

Elephant rides are no more at the annual Kansas City Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs.

Animal rights group Animal Defenders International helped spearhead the effort with countless letters, phone calls and Facebook messages to festival organizers asking to end the rides.

Attempts to reach festival owner Jim Peterson were unsuccessful.

ADI president Jan Creamer applauded the decision.

“We are proud of the compassionate local citizens who have protested with ADI, and we have no doubt these efforts made the difference in bringing these abusive rides to an end,” Creamer said in a statement.

Creamer said ADI released a video about the suffering behind the rides, “No Fun for Elephants,” with award-winning TV legend Bob Barker.

Scenes in the video show an animal handler viciously beating and shocking elephants, Creamer said.

This story was originally published April 21, 2017 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Elephant rides to end at Kansas City Renaissance Festival."