Newly released campaign finance records show that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaign paid $25,000 to East Texas Elephant Experience, also known as Trunks and Humps, to bring Paige, an 8,600-pound elephant, to the Texas GOP convention in Houston on June 12.
According to reporting by Tracey McManus of The Dallas Morning News, Houston’s regulatory division said it had no record that the exhibitor registered with the city at least 20 days before bringing Paige into the George R. Brown Convention Center—a requirement intended to protect public safety.
The city’s registration process requires exhibitors to provide their federal license, proof of permission to use the property, and emergency contact information in the event an animal escapes or attacks someone.
Despite the apparent lack of registration, Houston officials reported no fines or citations related to the event and did not answer questions about whether the ordinance would be enforced.
During the convention, handlers were reportedly seen using a bullhook while Paige moved among hundreds of delegates, elected officials and other attendees.
The appearance has renewed scrutiny of the declining use of elephants and other wild animals in traveling entertainment—and of the exhibitor itself.
According to the article, Trunks and Humps is one of only about half a dozen traveling elephant exhibitors still operating in the United States. The business travels with three elephants—all reportedly captured in Africa during the 1980s—as well as two camels.
The exhibitor also has a documented history of federal Animal Welfare Act citations and controversy. The article reports:
• In 2004, Animal Defenders International released investigative footage reportedly showing an elephant being pulled to the ground with a bullhook and kicked in the face, while other elephants were documented being struck with a golf club and electric prod.
• Federal regulators cited the business in 2001 and 2010 for leaving elephants chained and unattended at Renaissance festivals.
• In 1998, a federal investigator questioned whether extensive cracks in Paige’s front toes could have resulted from poor nutrition.
• More recently, the exhibitor was cited following an incident at a church nativity event in which a camel kicked a woman in the head, reportedly knocking her unconscious.
The case raises questions extending beyond one elephant or one political event.
Should an 8,600-pound wild animal be brought into a crowded convention center without compliance with local public-safety requirements?
What message does a $25,000 payment send to an industry already facing growing scrutiny over animal welfare?
And perhaps most importantly: What purpose do animal-protection and public-safety laws serve if they are not consistently enforced?
Elephants are highly intelligent, socially complex animals that form deep family bonds and have extraordinary physical, behavioral and psychological needs. Their immense size and strength are also precisely why regulations exist governing their exhibition in public spaces.
According to the article, 12 states and approximately 200 jurisdictions have banned or restricted the use of wild animals in circuses and traveling shows.
This incident represents a broader conversation about the continued use of wild animals as entertainment, the financial incentives that sustain traveling animal exhibitions, and the responsibility of government to consistently enforce laws intended to protect both animals and people.
Laws without meaningful enforcement are little more than words on paper.
Source: Tracey McManus, The Dallas Morning News (TNS), published July 18, 2026.
