Subscribe94.5% of people against wild animals in circuses, yet Government won’t ban
by Darren
Update: We are now using the #bigstop hashtag on Twitter for this campaign and James Barisic has produced a template letter that you can send to your local MP to ask them to support this call.
Last night I told you about the origin of the penguins that were going to be used for the stunt at Hamleys that we all managed to stop. The people involved have close association with the Chipperfield circus family, and presumably decided to concentrate more on this aspect of their business when their name was sullied due to the filming of acts of cruelty by Mary Chipperfield and her subsequent conviction just over ten years ago.
Well I’ve been researching the situation, and I’ve discovered something even more disturbing. The Government’s own consultation says 94.5% of people are against wild animals in circuses, yet my sources tell me that either this Thursday (the last day of the Parliamentary session, a good day to bury anything you don’t want to get attention) or early in the New Year, the Government may announce that they aren’t going to ban wild animals in circuses, but hand over regulation to the circus industry itself! We have heard mutterings that they may be intending to use an outfit consisting of a self-appointed animal trainer and circus vet going by the name ‘Performing Animals Welfare Standards International, or PAWSI for short‘, as the industry regulator.
There are four circuses which use live wild animals still operating in Britain, the most notable of which is the Great British Circus. I listened to a clip recently where a radio interviewer was subjected to shocking abuse while speaking to Martin Lacey, the owner. The Great British Circus has animals including lions, tigers, elephants, zebra and camels.
I’m desperate that we should get a ban on performing animals in shops, but everybody involved is telling me that due to this imminent announcement, we need to deal with the travelling circus situation first, and they’re right. There are links – the people involved are the same, but it is a separate issue. Wild animals in circuses have been banned in Austria, Costa Rica, Singapore and Israel. Other countries including the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, India, Sweden, Belgium, Estonia and Poland have restrictions on the use of certain animals in circuses.
94.5% of people in the UK are against circuses, over 2oo British local authorities ban the use of animals in circuses and 151 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion in support of a ban on the use of animals in circuses, yet the Government may be about to hand over the keys to the very industry responsible for the problem.
So, we need to make a noise again this week. We need to contact Members of Parliament, DEFRA and DEFRA ministers and we need to contact the RSPCA Wildlife Department whose advice to the Government on this issue will be key. I’ve asked James to help us out with things like template letters and another one of his wonderful hashtags so we can let others know what is going on. We also need to know more about PAWSI so if you have time then please go and dig around and let us know what you find.
We need to make it clear that having told the Government that we think performing wild animals in circuses is wrong.
Three days to change their mind.
It’s a tall order, but we can do it.
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6 Responses to “94.5% of people against wild animals in circuses, yet Government won’t ban”
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Iv’e been looking for a hashtag or something on the web as a guide of what we can do next, but can find nothing. Please could you advise what’s happening. Thank you
Mr Lacey come across as a lovely man….
I, like many others, am suprised that animals are alllowed to be used in circuses
Lynne, you can follow on Twitter. Look up / twitter search #Bigstop and you’ll see lots of links. We need to write to DEFRA, MP’s & get the word out to as many people as possible http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23bigstop
You have it wrong because animals love their lives in the circus. People love the animals aswell. You people should get a job in a circus and see for yourselves.
‘Arthur’ I note again your extended comment without substantiation, and I further note that you’re posting not only with a false name, but using a false email address too. At least I’m prepared to put my opinions on record under my own name. If you want to step up and debate, I welcome that and published your comments in good faith. In the circumstances, your posts have been removed.
as an irish circus supporter of over 40 years, i have once seen an animal being ill treated on any circus i visited i know all the owners of the irish run circuses, what i have seen countless times is the quick responce if an animal is sick, or hurts itself by accident, where were the people who condem animals in circus during the bad weather, were they out helping to keep animals warm and fed, indeed they were not, they were in their cosy warm homes, while the like of circus owners looked after their animals even though the season had finished, thier first thought is for the animals its on going every day, just like a farmers tends his animals the circus look after theirs, i have fed horses in fields that could`nt eat the grass because it was frozen and the owner could`nt be bothered to tend the animal, and yet i love animals in circus, WHY??? because their cared for and loved, not one irish in ireland was ever proven to illtreat any animal, a lot of incidents happened, but never illtreatment, i`m proud to support circuses. and i will untill i meet my maker.