Great article on One Green Planet about the background of the circus campaigns, the investigations, the prosecutions and the laws protecting animals – 31 countries now ban animal circuses:
The new home in Africa for 33 Spirit of Freedom lions:
Every ban on animal circuses is special, but there’s no doubt that the passing of the ban in Mexico is a thrill; so many animals will be saved and another country joins the bans across Central and South America. The world is changing for animals. Well done, Mexico!
And what a wonderful birthday present for the remarkable and legendary Bob Barker, who has funded so many of ADI’s campaigns and of course has funded a huge share of the costs of our current rescue of the wild animals from circuses in Peru – a true animal hero.
I write from our Spirit of Freedom temporary rescue centre in Peru, as we gather together the animals to be relocated to their wonderful new homes, so it seems appropriate to include a picture of one of our residents, dozing on a sunny afternoon as her new life starts to unfold before her. Thanks to the generosity of Bob Barker and thousands of our supporters who continue to give, a wonderful new home in the Amazon jungle awaits the monkeys and freedom to roam in huge enclosures in Colorado awaits our 30 lions.
We’re continuing to raise funds for the monkey enclosure in the Amazon and we’re looking for volunteer construction workers for January. Please keep donating and get us to the finish line!
Shameful scene in the UK Parliament yesterday as it became clear that the Government appears content to see the Wild Animals in Circuses Bill continue to be blocked by their MPs. Again, Chris Chope blocked Jim Fitzpatrick’s Private Members Bill. Between them, MPs Chris Chope and Andrew Rosindell have now blocked the Bill five times. This is a measure supported by 95% of the public and our last survey found 63% support in Parliament. Such continued opposition appears contemptuous. Observers might feel the Prime Minister’s words of support over the past few years look like a sham.
Pictured are Percy and Bob, rescued as cubs from a Bolivian circus, enjoying their new life. How can anyone oppose that? #CIRCUSBAN
LION ARK – see how it’s done….
Perhaps ministers and MPs need to come to the Prince Charles Leicester Square on 6 December to see how a government with real respect for public opinion dealt with this issue – LION ARK is playing for one night – the story of Bolivia’s ban on animal circuses, the investigations, the protests, the campaign for the law and how the Bolivian Government enforced the law by removing animals from illegal circuses. TICKETS http://bit.ly/1opCVX6
Tomorrow (Friday 21st) is the 4th attempt at the essential ‘Second Reading’ stage of the British Wild Animal Circus Bill, introduced by MP Jim Fitzpatrick following constant stalling by the Government about moving its own Bill forward (the two Bills are the same).
Each time the Fitzpatrick Bill has been presented, MPs from the Government’s own party have blocked it in the most undemocratic fashion, flying in the face of strong public and parliamentary support, as well as the Government’s own promises for the past two years! Shame on the Government for the political shenanigans and shame on the Conservative MPs who have chosen to snub public opinion. The Government could easily put their own Bill through, or support the Fitzpatrick Bill. They have chosen not to do it. The Prime Minister claims he will do it, and takes no action.
Over 15,000 members of the public have urged the Prime Minister to back the Bill. Please keep sharing the petition and following the messages on the ADI facebook page: http://bit.ly/1zwRPKr
In stark contrast to these displays of feebleness in the UK, the film LION ARK is coming to London on 6 December, to the Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square. LION ARK tells the story of the ban on ALL animals in circuses in Bolivia and follows the journey of 25 lions from suffering to peace and freedom. A good example of decisive government, and how the lives of circus animals can be changed with the right laws. A live action documentary, up close and personal with the rescuers and the animals they fight to save. BOOK YOUR TICKETS TODAY for our London Gala Screening of Lion Ark on Saturday 6 December. Join me and LION ARK director Tim Phillips together with celebrity guests and MPs – http://bit.ly/1opCVX6
Utterly disgraceful display of contempt for democracy in the UK Parliament yesterday, when one single pro-animal circus MP, Conservative Andrew Rosindell, blocked the second reading of the Wild Animals in Circuses Bill 2014-15 (a Private Members’ Bill) to end the use of wild animals in circuses. The Romford MP’s objection to the Bill flies in the face of the will of 95% of the British public, of 63% of Members of Parliament, and the Government’s own promise that it wants to see an end to the suffering of wild animals in circuses in the UK.
Mr Rosindell has been a champion of the now defunct Great British Circus, where ADI exposed shocking abuse of performing elephants by their trainers and keepers and used the rules of Parliament to block the progress of the Bill to the next stage, with his single objection.
The Bill, sponsored by former minister Jim Fitzpatrick MP, follows the exact language of the Government’s own Wild Animals in Circuses Bill, which, although ready to place before Parliament, the Government has failed to progress.
Mr Ronsidell was able to use the rules on Private Members’ Bills to impose his minority viewpoint over the majority because just one objection can block progress, as such Bills are not official Government business.
However, we must redouble our efforts – this Bill is still our best chance to secure protection for these animals ahead of the General Election in 2015 – ACT TODAY –
Go back to your Member of Parliament and ask them to speak with Mr Rosindell and then also to:
Speak with Liz Truss MP, Secretary of State for Environment Food & Rural Affairs and the minister, Lord de Mauley – urge the Government to support this Bill or schedule time for its own Bill to ensure it passes before the General Election in 2015, fulfilling the Government’s promise to the public.
Sign and share our petition calling on the Prime Minister to back to the bill http://bit.ly/1zwRPKr
Find out more http://bit.ly/1waKl0l
Interviewed with Antonio Mora on Al Jazeera’s ‘Consider This’ show tonight – showing our video of Carson & Barnes elephants at Jordan World Circus being beaten, electric shocked and abused. One elephant cries out in pain. Later, the video shows them giving rides to children.
Consider This also showed the behind-the-scenes abuse of elephants at Have Trunk Will Travel of California, again using stun guns giving painful electric shocks to elephants to force them to obey.
This is the third time in the United States that we have shown stun guns being used on elephants – the other culprit was Mike Swain performing with a Trunks & Humps elephant.
See:
Loghan Call @LoghanCall 37m
@AJConsiderThis @AnimalDefenders @jancreamer @AMoraTV
In a shameful failure to show leadership and support the will of Parliament and public, the British Government has failed – again – to end the suffering of wild animals in travelling circuses. This weakness leaves the UK open to animals arriving with circuses from abroad.
For the second year, the promised wild animal circus ban has not been included in the Government’s legislative schedule.
This embarrassing debacle over a widely-supported measure looks set to continue unless the Coalition Government can show that it has the strength and leadership to follow its own recommendations, as set out in the draft legislation – recommendations which are the result of years of consultations, examinations, committees and working parties.
In a survey conducted by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 94.5% of the public supported a wild animal ban; the majority of Members of Parliament support a ban; the British Veterinary Association has announced its support for a ban.
If it is to retain any credibility, the Government needs to stop running away from this issue and ensure the promised ban does not run out of time before the next General Election.
Since the UK was promised a ban in 2012, seven countries have passed similar legislation. Shameful.
Further delay just looks weak and is an embarrassment for the UK, when compared to the leadership shown by 27 countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America – see: http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=281
If you’re in the UK – tell your MP today, that you want to see this ban pushed through. The animals have waited long enough.
BACK THE BAN – SUPPORT TEAPA!
A great day – today, on Capitol Hill, Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) introduced HR 4525, the Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act (TEAPA), into the 113th Congress of the United States. The Bill will end the use of wild and exotic animals in traveling circuses in the US.
The issue of animal cruelty and suffering is always, of course, a nonpartisan issue. The original cosponsors of H.R. 4525 standing against cruelty alongside Rep Moran are: Rep Walter Jones (R-NC), Rep Hank Johnson (D-GA), Rep Judy Chu (D-CA), Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep Tony Cardenas (D-CA).
It’s time to BACK THE BAN and SUPPORT TEAPA! See: See
The US has joined an honourable group: thirty countries around the world are either discussing a wild animal ban – such as the UK, Brazil and Mexico – or have already passed a ban. Twenty-seven countries including Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Greece, India, Panama and Singapore have ended either wild animal, or all animal circuses. The full list is here: here
This US bill, like the British Government’s Wild Animal Circus Bill, is not just about the brutality and cruelty we have exposed. Animal suffering in traveling circuses is directly related to the circumstances; many hours tied up or chained in barren living spaces, unable to move about and the need for animal accommodation to be small, mobile and collapsible, in order to fit on a trailer or truck.
Over the past 23 years, all species of circus animals ADI has studied have displayed the disturbed, stereotypic behaviors that indicate an animal is not coping with its environment and is therefore suffering.
During a recent study, we were able to show that the wild animal performances were just 15 minutes of a two-hour circus show. This is easy to change – circuses vary their shows every year – removing the wild animals is not a huge step.
Certainly, the public enjoys wider choices for entertainment than previously and increased awareness of the needs, intelligence and emotions of other species makes the animal shows less popular than the hugely successful non-animal circus shows like Cirque du Soleil.
Causing animals pain and suffering just for entertainment is unacceptable in a modern, civilized society and thankfully many countries are waking up to this important issue.
Together with Stanley Johnson (ex-MEP), social justice campaigner Peter Tatchell and MPs Caroline Lucas, Jim Dowd, John McDonnell and Adrian Sanders, I delivered a letter about animal circuses to Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street today. 
The letter, signed by 75 politicians and celebrities, calls on the Coalition Government to ban wild animals from circuses. Signatories include Eddie Izzard, Julian Clary, Moby, Michaela Strachan, Brian Blessed, Dominic West and sustainable investment leader Ben Goldsmith – all have joined our initiative to persuade the Government to fulfil its promise to end the suffering.
As we gathered for the presentation, the PM stopped to briefly discuss the issue with Peter Tatchell and Stanley Johnson, and said: “we’re going to do it.”
Hopes were high when the Coalition Government promised the long-awaited ban on wild animals in circuses in 2012; an issue that is supported by over 95% of the public (DEFRA survey) and over 60% of Members of Parliament (poll for ADI).
The campaign has a long history: Between the late 1970s and the end of the 1990s, a wave of animal circus bans were won in over 200 local authorities across the UK, as town, city and county councils looked at the issues of animal cruelty and suffering, public safety, nuisance and traffic. They concluded that travelling animal circuses are no longer acceptable in an advanced, civilised society. Our undercover investigations provided irrefutable evidence of the brutality of circus life.
Last year, a Draft Wild Animals in Circuses Bill was finally sent to the Parliamentary Environment, Food and Agriculture Committee (EFRA) for comment. However, following EFRA’s ill-considered remarks and recommendations (which we vigorously critiqued), the Government confirmed that the Draft Bill would be presented to Parliament as it stands. Importantly, the Bill stipulates that the ban will come into effect in December 2015, so time is short.
Since then, the Government has allowed the Bill to drift into the long grass, and with a General Election on the horizon for 2015, it is clear that the opportunity to end the suffering of wild animals in circuses in the UK could be lost, if the Bill is not moved forward quickly.
If this Bill is not presented in time for MPs to discuss and vote before the end of this Parliament, the Government will not only be directly responsible for the continued violence and suffering from environmental deprivation, but also for the suffering of many more animals – especially those coming from abroad.
A failure to ban wild animal circuses in the UK will inevitably result in foreign circuses bringing a wider range of species to the UK – the kinds of animals we have not seen here for decades. Species observed in European circuses include hippopotamus, rhinoceros, giraffe, elephant, chimpanzee, sea lion, python and other snakes, lion, tiger, zebra, and more.
Having failed (twice) to overturn Austria’s ban in Europe, the European circus industry will see the UK as a prime new outlet for their increasingly unpopular shows.
We are not saying that travelling circuses should be banned. In fact, the animal acts are usually a small part of the average 2-hour show. So the circuses can re-tool, modernise and go animal free, providing employment for human acts. This has certainly been the case in the UK, where wild animal circuses have been steadily replaced by all-human performer shows – but that is not an excuse to do nothing – failure to get this widely-supported Bill passed, will cause an unacceptable level suffering.
Last week, the National Anti-Vivisection Society UK and Animal Defenders International US released horrific undercover footage of abuse and suffering of monkeys at the Biodia monkey farm in Mauritius.
Not only are these animals bred in factory-farm conditions, but also due to the failure of captive breeding, they are continuously taken from the wild, inevitably causing unbalanced populations and therefore wider environmental damage. The monkeys are exported all over the world, including to the US and the UK, two of the world’s largest markets for monkeys – despite the increasing availability of alternatives and public and political support to restrict primate use in research and end the use of wild-caught primates.
Screaming, baby monkeys were torn from their mothers’ arms and pinned down to be tattooed as their distressed mothers looked on, helpless to protect their babies. Terrified monkeys were netted and slammed onto concrete floors and wrenched from cages by their tails. Frightened and distress, monkeys were clamped down and injected into the eyelid for TB tests. Some of the footage shows workers actually swinging the monkeys by their tails with the animals unable to control how they landed.
The barren, crowded cages, with broken families and deaths and injuries from fighting due to cramped, deprived conditions, makes this a hell on earth for these intelligent, emotional and sensitive primates.
These are highly evolved animals and seeing other monkeys being restrained and suffering procedures causes high levels of stress – this is acknowledged in the UK regulations on primate use, which stipulate that monkeys should not be subjected to experimental procedures in the presence of other monkeys. However, in our Huntingdon Life Sciences investigation, monkeys could see and hear each other during procedures and stress-related prolapses were reported,
Shipped thousands of miles to laboratory customers the terrified monkeys spend hours in tiny boxes, alone, fearful and distressed, and many die or become sick on the journey.
Air France & China Southern are the last remaining passenger airlines to fly monkeys destined for laboratories.
See the full story:
Our investigators also uncovered Biodia’s plans to set up a Mauritius monkey breeding colony in Florida, with their US partner, Prelabs,
Jan Creamer 