Conclusions
The CAPS study into the use of animals in circuses in Ireland reveals that many animals are subjected to regular confinement and transportation with severe restrictions on their ability to carry out normal physical and behavioural needs.
The facts speak for themselves - the welfare of animals is seriously compromised by their use in travelling circuses. These problems are not just associated with wild animals but with domesticated species as well.
In addition to welfare concerns, the ethical opposition to the use of animals in circuses - that we do not have the right to make animals perform simply for our entertainment - has achieved growing public support for many years.
Current legislation has no provisions specifically relating to the use of animals in circuses. While a person who keeps a dog is required to pay for a dog licence, a person keeping an animal such as an elephant, rhinoceros or tiger does not require a licence for that animal.
The welfare of animals in circuses in Ireland is not adequately monitored and is often left to animal welfare and animal rights groups who have no powers of entry to circuses and no powers to arrange veterinary examination of the animals.
No government body carries out regular checks on the circuses to monitor animal welfare.
However, while it may be suggested by some quarters that regulations should be brought in specifically to control the welfare of animals in the circus environment, CAPS strongly believes that the only way to protect the animals (and public and circus staff) is to prohibit the use of animals altogether.
Regulations, however strict and well enforced, could still not allow the majority of the natural physical and behavioural needs of the animals to be carried out. A travelling circus, by its very nature, cannot meet all the needs of animals.
Prohibition provides the only clear way to prevent animal cruelty taking place and end the risks to the public and staff.
The circus industry itself would benefit from an end to animal use. Given the increasingly negative feelings held by the public towards animal circuses, a new era of circuses would be welcoming to those people who currently avoid them.
As animal acts are just a small part of many circuses (for example, Fossett’s Circus had just one animal act at the time of our visit in 2006) it would be easy for these circuses to adapt to being animal-free. This has happened in the UK, where the use of animals has declined by almost two-thirds in the past decade and well-known circuses have dropped their animal acts – resulting in the welcoming back of many families and the use of prime-location, council-owned sites from which animal circuses are banned.
We urge the Dail to introduce legislation to prohibit the use of all animals in circuses.
In the meantime, we encourage the following interim action to be taken:
- All imports of animals from outside Ireland for use in circuses to be stopped immediately,
- Local authorities stop animal circuses from using council-owned land,
- Public funding, through the Arts Council, of circuses that use animals to be stopped.