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In order to reveal what she sees as cruelty to animals, Amelia Bruce thinks nothing of doing a little -- or a lot -- of revealing of her own.

"If it takes me exposing some skin to expose the cruelty behind the scenes at circuses, I'm willing to do that," said Bruce in an interview this morning about her noon to 1 p.m. skin-baring protest in Market Square today.

For the past five years, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has used naked volunteers, chained and sporting fake scars, to protest the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which will be in Pittsburgh from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6 at the Mellon Arena.

"Sometimes PETA has to do eye-catching things to get the attention that the animals deserve," Bruce said, adding that reactions to these protests in other cities have been generally positive.

Video footage of elephant beatings typically are shown at these protests, but Ringling Bros. claims the footage is old, recycled footage from zoos or other circuses meant to deceive people into thinking Ringling Bros. currently harms its animals, according to a prepared company statement e-mailed from spokeswoman Jennifer Jo. Although circus animals have died, the deaths were caused by illness and old age, not by abuse, the statement said.

"The footage that we have is being constantly updated," Bruce countered. She said PETA has spoken to former circus workers that claim elephants cannot be trained to perform without being beaten.

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