 |
Find more campaigns: | ||||
|
|||||
 |
February 2002 The culmination of a two-year campaign against circuses with performing animals was the following statement from the Circus promoters ;
Times of Malta 27th December 2001 |
||||
World Animal Conscience the Malta based Animal Rights Organisation and the REX Foundation, Budapest, Hungary’s leading Animal Welfare Group have co-operated to campaign against the use of animals in Circuses. Michael Pearson, World Animal
Conscience Chairman said that "as soon as we heard that this
Circus was intending to come to Malta at Christmas we contacted
our colleagues in Budapest" "we wanted to establish what
was known about the particular Circus and the way it treated animals"
|
|||||
 |
|||||
Elephants The Elephant is a social animal that typically lives in a family structure with fixed hierarchies, usually under matriarchal control. Due to the need to retain this powerful animal it will often be chained to prevent it’s escape. The chain will restrict or deny the animals ability to carry out its normal "comfort behavior". Grooming and hygiene are essential, and in their natural surroundings bathing and wallowing are part of the daily activities. An elephant will spend as much as 2 ½ hours daily cleaning and grooming itself. In a travelling Circus this is not possible especially when chained to the ground. The elephant used in the Budapest performance was a 24 year old female named Sandra, as you can see from the photos when she was not working, she was chained. In a travelling Circus therefore, the normal pattern of behavior is removed and great stress is caused. As the animal is not able to live in natural circumstances, there is no justification for Elephants to be included in Circus activities. Whilst performing, the animal is often asked to carry out unnatural movements which because of the large weight of the animal will cause injury. For example any form of balancing, standing on hind or fore legs etc will put undue pressure on the body and can lead to injuries to joints, and discs. The training of elephants often uses excessive force, beating or electric shocks. Jozsef Richter the director of this circus won an award for his performance when he performed a handstand on the head of an elephant that had been forced itself to stand on one leg ! |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
Zebras Zebras in the wild live in independent family groups, like horses they roam and graze over vast areas. In a travelling circus this behavior is curtailed, and they are kept in small pens, where they become strained and stressed, during our observation one of them bit a circus worker, who then started to beat the head of that zebra with a brush. Often the only exercise is when they are "performing" in the ring, running around in small circles at the command of a ringmaster with a whip. If the Circus contains Big Cats, the stress caused to animals like Zebras of hearing and smelling their predators is cruel and frightening, and not acceptable. |
 |
||||
|
|||||
Horses The conditions the horses are kept in at this particular circus are not acceptable, they are restricted for long periods in travelling boxes, where the space is so cramped that there is literally no space at either flank or head or rear. The horses in this circus are used with acrobats. The human acrobats performing somersaults as the horses canter around the ring. The horse’s backs receive a constant pummeling as the performers land and take off. |
 |
||||
Dogs Whilst it sometimes acceptable to see dogs perform with obedience and agility, the circus performances go beyond this. Poodles dressed up as "bride & groom" walking on their hind legs serves no purpose whatsoever. In this Circus one of the shows includes a "football" game between a team of Boxer dogs and 2 fox terriers, using balloons. The fox terriers act as goalkeepers and are tethered to the goals to make sure they can’t get away. Whilst this can not be considered entertainment, it does cause the groups of dogs to become over excited at and the performance we observed in Budapest a fight broke out amongst the dogs causing the handlers to use sticks to separate them. One of the saddest spectacles is when a fox terrier is paraded in the ring wearing a heavy costume supposed to make it look like a small elephant, they refer to is as the "robot elephant" as it struggles around with even it’s head covered with a mask. What type of sick mind thought up this and called it entertainment ? It certainly shows the attitude of this Circus to animals. |
 |
||||
 |
|||||
Transportation Any transportation of animals will cause stress, but the circus vehicles are not custom designed for that purpose. The space is limited, as are the air vents, it is not known whether the animals are rested away from the transport during long journeys. The additional stress of a sea crossing to Malta especially at this time of year, will cause hardship for the animals. Other Animals The prospectus of this Circus shows pictures of other animals such as Polar Bears and tigers, these were not involved in the Budapest performance, and we are unable to establish what animals the Circus intends to bring to Malta. Quarantine Certainly any individual bringing a dog from Hungary to Malta would have to confine it to quarantine, for a period of 6 months. Quarantine in Malta is primarily to prevent Rabies, which does exist in continental Europe. Why the dogs that are to be used in the circus are allowed to evade this quarantine is unclear but is unfair and dangerous. The argument that the dogs are in "transit" should also not be relevant as they will leave their travelling enclosures and will be performing in a circus ring that is not caged. The dogs would easily be able to leave the ring and approach the audience. Health and Care of the Animals The health of performing animals will always need more attention, than those at rest in their natural habitat, and the stresses of travel also increase the likelihood of injury or illness. Assuming the Circus does not bring it’s own Veterinarian, without wishing to doubt the competence of our already overstretched local Vets do they have the experience, drugs and equipment to treat for example an Elephant ? What a tragedy it would be if one of the animals died here, just because adequate care was not available. Conclusion The use of animals in Circuses is not acceptable, it is not good for them, it causes them stress from having to live in unnatural conditions. The performances are not natural and often cause injury during the performances and cruelty whilst training. If the only reason for this is "entertainment" it is no longer a justification, to make a financial gain from animal cruelty is morally unacceptable. The Maltese authorities who are even now debating and evaluating "Animal Protection" Legislation, should show leadership and refuse entry permits to Circuses that use animals. Circuses without animal performances are perfectly acceptable and provide as much entertainment. If you support the campaign to stop Circuses with performing animals what can you do ?
"We have quite enough Animal Cruelty here in Malta without having to ‘import’ Circus cruelty".
Apologies for lack of quality of some of the photographs, but due to the undercover nature of the photography it was not possible to obtain "posed" pictures. Prepared November 2000, By Michael Pearson, World Animal Conscienc |
 |
||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
