Viola, a 58-year-old elephant, escaped from her circus in Butte, Montana, on Tuesday. The elephant wandered the streets and roads of the American city for around twenty minutes.
According to the town sheriff, the elephant was frightened by a car while she was being washed. PETA has filed an urgent complaint with federal authorities over the circus's failure to protect Viola and the public, according to a press release. The elephant was to “perform” that same evening at the Jordan World Circus, a traveling circus. Finally, the scheduled shows took place, and Viola did not harm anyone during her wandering. But according to an animal rights association, Viola is not her first attempt to flee the circus, as she had already tried to flee twice. The group urges everyone to help keep elephants off the roads by refusing to buy a ticket to a circus that forces them to perform, as she had attempted to flee before.