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Performing animals circus blasted by campaigners

7:20am Wednesday 13th May 2009 in News By Ciaran Gold

A CIRCUS opening in Cuffley this week featuring acts from endangered species has been blasted by animal rights campaigners.

The Great British Circus has come under fire for using elephants, which have not been a part of British circuses for a decade.

The show also features about ten tigers, which the circus would not allow to be photographed as they were in the cages they are kept in when they are not performing.

The show claims to be Britain's biggest animal circus. Spokesman Chris Barltrop said there was “no reason at all” why animals should not be used by the circus. He said: "Thousands see the circus every week. All of them want to see the animals before and after the show to see how the animals are kept."

He said a DEFRA Circus Working Group report in 2007 into the welfare of the animals said they did not appear stressed and the animals appeared to be in good condition.

However, several animal rights groups raised concerns over the principle of using wild animals for entertainment.

Chris Draper, senior scientific researcher for the Born Free Foundation, said: "We are very concerned about the welfare of the animals in the Great British Circus, and shocked about the circus's recent importation of three elephants for use in their performances.

"The use of wild animals in circuses is archaic, and it is abundantly clear that a travelling circus cannot provide for the complex needs of wild animals.

"Travelling circuses simply cannot provide the environment afforded to animals in even the most simple of zoos, and furthermore subject their animals to repeated and prolonged transport, frequent loading and unloading, and the potential stresses of performance and training".

Craig Redmond, campaigns director for the Captive Animals' Protection Society, said: "We strongly urge the public to avoid this circus and wait for one of the many excellent all-human shows to visit town."

Alexandra Cardenas, of Animal Defenders International, added her concerns.

"Even with the best will in the world, it is impossible to provide animals like elephants the facilities to maintain their physical and mental fitness."

Lars Hölscher, 25, the elephant trainer and owner, said: "People who don't see the animals have no idea how it works in the circus. They are happy, they have space and we take them on walks."

His training partner, Christine Haerter, 35, added: "We are with the animals all the time. You couldn't do anything bad to the elephants because elephants never forget."

The Great British Circus is performing on Northaw Road, in Cuffley, from Tuesday until the weekend.

Comments(6)

paul_thomas says...
2:39pm Wed 13 May 09

Boycott animal circuses

Animals don’t belong in a circus. The constant transportation from town to town for ten months each year and confinement for long periods means that a travelling circus can never meet all of the needs of these animals, whether elephants, lions, tigers or horses.

Claims by circuses that animals are stimulated by performances are false. In fact, the same tricks are generally repeated for years.

Animals are trained away from the scrutiny of the public, politicians or welfare groups. Undercover investigations at circuses in the UK have revealed animals beaten with sticks, bars and whips and sick animals hidden from the RSPCA.

There is no educational value in seeing these once proud animals reduced to performing tricks in an unnatural environment. Circuses teach a lack of respect for animals.

CAPS is not opposed to circuses, only to the use of animals, and we encourage people to avoid animal circuses and instead visit one of the many excellent shows that rely entirely on human skills.

We also ask people to write to their MP, asking them to encourage the government to ban the use of animals in circuses.

Circuses YES, Animals NO.

Paul Thomas
Campaigns assistant

The Captive Animals' Protection Society
Manchester
www.captiveanimals.o
rg

Registered charity in England and Wales. Number 1124436

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Alan Wilson says...
10:33pm Wed 13 May 09

I went to see the Great British Circus three times. At each show you could not see more contented animals. Who would turn their backs on a bunch of Tigers if there was no trust between them and their trainer. And would you trust being picked up by an elephant with your leg in its mouth if it was not content, it would bite your leg off and trample you at any time. The only way to judge is to see the show.

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Arthur Brain says...
9:23am Thu 14 May 09

This is the usual artificial 'controversy' on this subject, created by campaign groups ever eager to make it look as though they do something useful, and keen also to encourage donations from readers who haven't been to see the circus animals for themselves, and so are misled into believing that what the campaigners say is true. The scientific evidence published in DEFRA's report (Nov 2007) is that circuses are quite capable of taking care of their animals, and that transportation causes the animals no problems because they're used to it. The few caampaigners against animal circuses, however much they throw their weight around and bully the rest of us, are heavily outnumbered by the thousands who show their support for animal circuses by going to see one.

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Catherine Ryal says...
10:47am Thu 14 May 09

This is not 'artificial controvecy'. The DEFRA report was deeply flawed and made a mockery of the Animal Welfare Act. If you have any interest in this subject then please type 'captive elephant welfare and science' into google's search engine and take a moment to sample current scientific literature. I guarantee this will make it clear that elephant welfare is wholly incompatible with the demands of circus life. Common sense and a humane attitude have already come into play with the majority of the public who do NOT show their support for animal circuses by going to see one!

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Arthur Brain says...
11:41am Thu 14 May 09

It is not right to condemn the DEFRA Report as 'flawed' (something of a buzzword at the moment) because one disagrees with its conclusions. It's interesting that those conclusions were signed-off by ALL the specialist scientists involved, including those nominated by animal campaign groups. A truly 'academic' conclusion may therefore differ from a statement made by the same scientist when acting as a paid representative of a campaign group. I did as Catherine Ryal suggests, and Googled 'captive elephant welfare and science'. Regretfully, most of the material there is propagated by campaign groups, and is thus heavily partisan. The Elephant Voices book is of great interest, but is based on the premise that it is wrong to hold such animals captive; as such, it also falls into the 'partisan' trap. Because of pressure on the wild, the choice now is between 'captive' animals or no animals at all. Since humans dominate the world, and destroy species and their habitats for selfish gain, I suggest that such destruction is the real problem to be addressed, rather than picking on a circus which loves and cares-for its elephants as working partners. Surely the priority must be to ensure that captive animals, including these elephants, have their mental and physical needs provided for. Legislation can guarantee that; anti-circus campigns can't.

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Arthur Brain says...
11:44am Thu 14 May 09

It is not right to condemn the DEFRA Report as 'flawed' (something of a buzzword at the moment) because one disagrees with its conclusions. It's interesting that those conclusions were signed-off by ALL the specialist scientists involved, including those nominated by animal campaign groups. A truly 'academic' conclusion may therefore differ from a statement made by the same scientist when acting as a paid representative of a campaign group. I did as Catherine Ryal suggests, and Googled 'captive elephant welfare and science'. Regretfully, most of the material there is propagated by campaign groups, and is thus heavily partisan. The Elephant Voices book is of great interest, but is based on the premise that it is wrong to hold such animals captive; as such, it also falls into the 'partisan' trap. Because of pressure on the wild, the choice now is between 'captive' animals or no animals at all. Since humans dominate the world, and destroy species and their habitats for selfish gain, I suggest that such destruction is the real problem to be addressed, rather than picking on a circus which loves and cares-for its elephants as working partners. Surely the priority must be to ensure that captive animals, including these elephants, have their mental and physical needs provided for. Legislation can guarantee that; anti-circus campigns can't.

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