Peta Bosses Slam Britney Spears Over Circus 12/9/08

Britney Spears has come under fire from animal rights campaigners for using elephants in the video for her new single Circus. The pop superstar is set to release the titled track from her new album next year (09) and the promo for the song sees Spears as the ringleader of a real circus - and includes scenes involving the captive creatures.

But a spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is disgusted by the move - insisting the singer should not have used the animals in the film.

PETA's Christine Dore says, "How quickly America's sweetheart fell from grace. And it wasn't pretty. Now, at the bottom of the barrel, she's sporting elephants dressed in circus attire for her new video titled - what else - Circus.

"As Britney is such a victim of the paparazzi and always complaining and crying about how she hates to be held up in her guarded house and can't feel free, she of all people should be able to relate to the horror that captive animals go through when they're used for entertainment.

"Except Britney chooses to perform, and the lifestyle just comes with it. Animals are ripped away from their mothers at a young age, kept in chains, and prodded with electric shock devices to make them perform".