“Palpitating pageant of pachyderms, pulchritude and pantomime! Extraordinary wild animal exploits! Desperately dangerous displays of unrivalled aerialism! Colossally comic comedians! Dainty and dexterous displays of principal bareback equitation!”

Oh, the language of the circus!

Ballyhoo, bravado and exaggeration are stretched to linguistic limits with alliterative phrase heaped upon alliterative phrase until the words are as poetic as the movements of any daring young man, or woman, on the flying trapeze.

Christmas is a busy time for the travelling circus, expectant families to be entertained, animals to be cared for, homes to be uprooted and repositioned hundreds of miles away overnight. So little surprise that as soon as Christmas is over, both circus actors and animals take a well earned winter break, and have no contact with their appreciative audiences until around Easter time.

Thus it will come as no surprise to you either, that December 21^st to March 15^th was precisely the ludicrously short period of time that DEFRA gave both sides in the ‘are circuses cruel’ debate to submit their views to a government committee determined to spend our tax payer pounds on regulating yet something else.

The effect of choosing this period of time can be seen in the governments own admission that the 12,907 responses out of a total population of 60 million in the UK, broke down as follows.

2,231 postcards – which were part of a campaign by ‘an’ animal welfare organisation – and which consisted of ‘some’ of the questions posed. Nothing quite like selective polling….

9,390 electronic responses to the on-line questionnaire, which members of the circus audience would have been entirely unaware of, since the circuses would have had no contact with them during this period.

I am reminded of the university ‘poll’ which posed the question ‘should the café be non-smoking’ to the entire user base of the university café on Christmas Eve – no students present, merely the Mother and Baby Toddler group having their annual chin wag – not surprisingly they claimed 100% of those polled wanted the café non-smoking, and non-smoking it was!

As if this wasn’t enough, the questions were so loaded as to be obscene.

Do you think that there are any species of wild animal which it is acceptable to use in travelling circuses?

Don’t know 1% (85 out of 9920 responses)

No 95.5% (9463 out of 9920 responses)

Yes 4% (372 out of 9920 responses)

Now that in itself is an interesting question for – suitably buried in the small print on a well hidden page – DEFRA makes clear that it was specifically excluding any question of the use of animals in circuses as entertainment, and was considering neither their performance nor their training:

Performance and training techniques were excluded as we considered that if any cruel practices were used in the training of animals it should be relatively straightforward to mount a prosecution for cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act.

So the question only relates to the fact that the animals were part of a ‘travelling’ circus, rather than being used as entertainment.

How many of the 9,390 on-line respondents were reacting to the notion of animals being used as entertainment and how many were correctly understanding that it was merely their transport that was complained about is open to conjecture – as is the number of those respondents who were encouraged to take part as a result of the many PETA organised campaign groups. My guess would be that the PETA encouraged participants accounted for the 9463 who said NO…..

You might imagine from all this activity, committees, academics submitting reports, and postcard campaigns, that this is a huge problem.

If so, you will be bewildered to learn that there are only 4, I repeat 4, circuses left that use non-domesticated animals. They are:

The Great British Circus with a grand total of 1 Kangaroo, 2 Llamas, 4 Reindeer, 5 Lions, 7 Tigers. 7 Camels, and one lone Zebra.

Bobby Robert’s Super Circus who only possess 1 Elephant (touring, but retired from performance) and 1 camel.

Circus Mondao with 3 Zebras, 2 Llamas, and thinking of acquiring 2 Camels…

And last but not least, Jollys’ Circus with 2 crocodiles, 1 Zebra,1 Ankole, 1 Llama and 6 Snakes….

Labour have already passed the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which prevents unnecessary cruelty or suffering to any vertebrate animal. It is a ‘common informers’ Act, which means that anyone can make a complaint which would lead to prosecution. In addition, it introduced a new ‘duty of care’ for any animal under the control of man, which makes owners and keepers responsible for ensuring that the welfare needs of their animals are met. This duty applies to animals kept in circuses just as to pets, farmed animals and other domestic and companion animals.

There are also extensive rules and regulations about transporting any animal – if there were not I should have a 100 squealing pigs with ‘MP’ stamped on their rump, trailing Old Holborn round Cambridge – but illegal, unfortunately.

None of this is sufficient to satisfy the zealots at PETA and the other Peter Springer inspired Animal Rights groups – they have lobbied the entire machinery of government to introduce new legislation in respect of those 4, repeat 4, circuses, and their habit of taking their animals with them as they move from place to place.

Thus, this morning we have the BBC proudly announcing a ministerial statement from Jim Fitzpatrick MP.

“Wild animals are set to be banned from circuses after a consultation found overwhelming concern by the public.”

The large number of responses that we have received is a testament to the interest that stakeholders and the general public have taken in this issue.

On the basis of the preliminary analysis that Defra’s animal welfare team have done on the responses received, I am minded to pursue a ban on the use of wild animals in travelling circuses in England. Jim Fitzpatrick MP

The RSPCA piled in of course.

RSPCA wildlife scientist Dr Ros Clubb said: “Watching animals perform unnatural tricks also does nothing to educate the public or promote compassion for animals.”

But remember gentle reader – this was never about animals performing, it was about their inclusion in travelling circuses…….and any regulation or ban would only apply in England as animal welfare is a devolved matter.

Just as well it was not about animals performing, for also this morning we hear that in London Zoo, in the Bio-Dome (good marketing, like the Bio bit) the monkeys are to be released amongst the public by way of encouraging more visitors to the zoo – otherwise known as providing entertainment…….

“We want people to be immersed in the jungle as soon as they get off the bus,” said Mr Dobbs. “We are actually letting the animals come out and get close to the public. We think they will be happy running around when the public are in here.”

“It’s about inspiration.”

This is where the circuses went wrong. They should have re-named the Big-Top a Bio-Zone; the Ring master could have been a Facilitator; the clowns ‘Outreach Consultants’ communicating by sign language to a multi-cultural multi-lingual audience, the Lions and Tigers could have come out to celebrate Eid and Hajj in the traditional way by snatching a child or two for breakfast – maybe even a roaming DEFRA Minister throttled by a Boa Constrictor for good measure.

Dr Clubb would have been happy to see the animals performing natural tricks…..

All this nonsense brought to you courtesy of DEFRA, who yesterday announced that they had found ways of trimming £194 million off their tax payer funded budget! Since this has been announced post ‘cuts’, I cannot bear to think how else they were wasting money before.

Tweets that mention DEFRA Ban wild animals in travelling circuses. — Topsy.com

March 26, 2010 at 18:35

1
Uncle Marvo March 26, 2010 at 12:06

“Do you think that there are any species of wild animal which it is acceptable to use in travelling circuses?”

Yes. And there should be quite a few of them once the full extent of their troughing activities have been revealed. I can’t think that anyone else would want to employ them.

2
Antisthenes March 26, 2010 at 12:17

“Labour have already passed the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which prevents unnecessary cruelty or suffering to any vertebrate animal”.

So it’s open season on Labour MPs then because they are spineless bunch of bastards and not covered under the act.

3
SadButMadLad March 26, 2010 at 12:22

What is a “wild animal”. I could be wrong but animals used in circuses are captive born. So the definition of a wild animal is that they are not commonly used as pets. Note I said commonly because tigers have been used as pets in the past. Dogs are only a bit of training away from being wild wolfs. Witness the number of dog attacks. Then you have cats which cause havoc with the local bird and rodent life. Why are they allowed to be pets when they cause such carnage?

The care to which circus owners look after their animals is probably the same or even more than the public looks after their pets. That’s because the circus animals provide an income. In fact with various laws circus animals are inspected a lot more than pets are.

Animals rights campaigners then go one about the stress of the wild animals as they are being transported. What about the stress of wild animals as they are being hunted by other wild animals. What about the stress of horses as they are transported in tiny boxes? What about the stress of chickens and rabbits when they are put on show in argicultural shows?

Animal rights supporters have a beef with the captivity of circus animals. Why aren’t they having the same beef with pet birds? Or snakes. What about fish kept in small aquariums. There arguments can easily be turned against them. What about zoo animals?

What about the entertainment of humans by animals? Aren’t dog shows like crufts entertainment? Why isn’t it banned. What about kids petting farms with lambs and goats?

I could go on, but it’s easy to shoot holes in animal rights issues. Either they have to accept that so long as animals are not tortured or ill treated and are cared for, well fed, and have oppurtunities to play then animals can be used for what ever humans want, as pets or for entertainment or for food. Yes food, what is the difference between some society/group eating dogs and another eating pigs. In both cases another society or group thinks of it as abhorrent. Who is right?

Thought for the day. Are all animals rights campaigners vegatarian? If not why not?

4
Anna Raccoon March 26, 2010 at 12:36

Antisthenes,

“spineless bunch of bastards and not covered under the act.”

Superb comment!

5
The Grim Reaper March 26, 2010 at 12:51

I was flicking through Obnoxio’s blogroll when I came across something saying you’d written a piece called “A Few Clowns Short of a Circus”.

I’m disappointed it wasn’t about Boring & Demented and their endless rants about yourself and Holby. Oh well.

How is life as Holby’s agent?

6
Anna Raccoon March 26, 2010 at 12:53

Grim Reaper……ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha….can’t get my breath……ha, ha……..

Life as Holby’s agent is just grand thank-you – a lot of fun, and feels good to be doing something positive.

7
Saul March 26, 2010 at 13:11

Two Lions are eating a Clown who failed to get out of their cage in time.

One turns to the other and says…

“Does this taste funny to you?”

8
Demetrius March 26, 2010 at 17:26

How about reintroducing Brown Bear baiting with bulldogs etc.? It need not be an actual bear, just someone called Brown dressed up in a nylon bear costume. I’d pay good money to see that.

9
Blink March 27, 2010 at 07:19

the biggest and maddest wild animal is still on the loose in downing street

10
2Mac March 27, 2010 at 08:44

Westminster Troughing Swine are the common Pig in the City of London. The lesser known and vary rare Westminster Non-Troughing Swine have not been seen in public for a number of years. TheRSPCA fear this rare political variety has actually died out and the public did not even notice.

There has been talk of importing non native species from Europe to try and re establish the population but so far nobody has been able to find any of the Non Troughing variety.

A Mass Cull of the Westminster Troughing Swine is expected to take place in May with the Public up and down the country taking action.

11
auntiejen March 27, 2010 at 14:02

Right on, couldn’t agree with you more. It’s a shame that DEFRA didn’t pay more attention to their own conclusions in their October 2007 report. After an extensive consultation process with members of circus, animal rights groups and scientists, they concluded that “the welfare of animals kept in travelling circuses is any better than that if animals kept in other captive environments.”

12
uncle bill March 27, 2010 at 14:11

I joined my first circus by chance or design in Florida in 1981. Since then I have worked with circuses in England, Ireland and the east and west coast of America and am currently writing a book about my experiences. The biggest myth in circus is the treatment of it’s animals. If I had a wish for 2010 it would be that investigative reporters focus on the activities of animal rights activist groups who kill far more animals than public motorways. The DEFRA survey is an example of how animal rights groups infiltrate and manipulate government agencies that the public deem credible. The Circus Proprietors Association of Great Britain for decades has been trying to encourage the government to introduce regulations for circuses with touring animals, to no avail. The circus ring is a place of innocence where men, women, children and animals work in harmony together. Take your kids to the circus with a clear conscience.