Wild animals belong in the wild, or at the very least in a sanctuary where they can live a close to normal life! Circus animals spend months travelling in small, bare cages. The stress of continued confinement as well as the transportation result in long term suffering and a lack of appropriate social interaction, reduction in time spent foraging and the restricted freedom to perform natural behaviours represent stressors for captive animals.
A natural environment cannot be recreated in a circus due to the travelling, with inadequate acommodation and exercise areas, forced movement, handling by humans, noise, along with the confinement results in both short-term as well as long-term behavioural and psychological effects.
There is a place for the animals! There are sanctuaries who will take the cats, where they can have a close to normal, safe. They can never go to 'the wild' but the life they currently have is no life. Beauty Without Cruelty and the Animal Rescue Organisation call on the provincial government of the Western Cape to ban entry to any and all animal circuse*s.
Greetings Premier Zille
Wild animals belong in the wild, or at the very least in a sanctuary where they can have a close to normal, safe life. Wild animals (captive born animals remain wild) should not be trained to perform tricks. There is a plethora of evidence to confirm that circus animals suffer stress due to long periods of confinement, a lack of appropriate social interaction, the inability to forage/hunt or carry out any natural normal behaviour; a natural environment cannot be reproduced in a circus environment and the travelling, noise, handling by humans bright lights are added stressors.
Bolivia and Peru have banned the inclusion of all animals in the circus, and the Dutch, Croatia, Austria, Greece, Costa Rica, Israel and Singapore have banned the inclusion of wild animals. In Spain, more than 60 cities have enacted bans on animal circuses. Countries considering bans include Ecuador, Columbia, Brazil and the United Kingdom. (www.foca.com)
The opportunity exists to home local circus animals at SA sanctuaries,
where they may be free from exploitation. All welfare organisations are vehemently against the use of wild animals in the circus.
I call on the provincial government of the Western Cape to give serious consideration to the barring of any and all animal circuses from the Western Cape.
