The use of wild animals in circuses
By now, most of us will have seen the appalling footage of Anne, the circus elephant, being prodded and hit whilst in the 'care' of Bobby Roberts' Circus. I don't know about you, but I truly believed that circuses in Britain stopped using wild animals in their acts years ago - I thought it was all about clowns and acrobats nowadays.
How wrong was I? Animals are still being used in British circuses; an estimated 150-200 at the last count, 37 of which were wild animals (including zebras, lions, camels, snakes, tigers, and crocodiles - even a kangaroo). Circuses with wild animals are common in many other countries too.
It's not hard to imagine what life is like for a wild animal in the circus world. They are forced to learn tricks in order to entertain; they are kept in confined spaces for many hours, transported from one site to another (also in confined spaces) and then made to perform in front of crowds of noisy people. Evidence shows that on average, circus animals spend only 1-9% of their time training and performing, the rest of their time is spent in inadequate enclosures, cages or traveling.
A recent public consultation on wild animals in circuses showed 94.5% of people wanted a total ban and a recent parliamentary poll found that 63% of MP's would like to see a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses, with only 14% disagreeing.
The Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman, has been persuaded that forcing elephants, tigers, lions, camels and all the other wild animals to perform in front of audiences is wrong in modern Britain. She is also said to believe that to make these animals travel in cramped vehicles (known as 'beast wagons') for thousands of miles every year is harmful to their welfare.
Animal Welfare Minister, Jim Paice, told MP's last month that a new policy was "close to completion". Caroline Spelman is now said to be 'minded' to introduce the ban and has the backing of the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.
Anne the elephant's story has brought all of this to our attention and there are cases throughout the country of people boycotting these circuses and organising protests to highlight the plight of these animals. A quick search on the internet will show awful footage of how circus animals are being treated worldwide. Images of animals being kept in cramped, filthy conditions and standing or lying in their own mess are not uncommon. Many of these animals show signs of great distress, pacing back and forth and showing stereotypical 'weaving' behaviour.
Surely, there can be no better time to act and let's hope the Government will come to a decision soon. A total ban is undoubtedly the only way forward now, although you do have to ask yourself what will happen to these animals if the ban goes ahead? I just hope that we have enough places for these animals to be re-homed.
Organisations such as Animal Defenders International and Born Free have played such a fantastic role in highlighting this issue and, obviously, ensuring that Anne was moved to a place of safety, but I think Anne should be rewarded for bringing this unjust and barbaric practice to everyone's attention. Maybe then her suffering would not have been in vain.
