Fingal County Council, in north Dublin, has become the first council in the Republic of Ireland to vote in favour of banning animal circuses from performing in the area.

On 8th October 2007 councillors backed a motion by Councillor Clare Daly (Socialist Party) to ban circuses with wild animals from performing anywhere in the local authority area. The issue will now be taken to the Strategic Policy Committee to finalise how the decision can be implemented.

CAPS, along with the Alliance for Animal Rights and other campaigners had lobbied councillors, encouraging them to support the motion. We had provided detailed evidence from our investigation into circuses in Ireland.

A few days earlier, the notorious Circus Sydney was told it must leave its animals at home when it performs at the council-owned Andersonstown Leisure Centre in Northern Ireland next year as Belfast City Council has banned animal circuses on its land.

Also on 10th October 2007 Newtownabbey council in County Antrim voted to ban animal circuses on council land. However, this was sadly overturned at the following council meeting at the end of the month. Freedom for Animals expressed our concern that councillors had been persuaded to vote against the ban and ignored the evidence submitted by Freedom for Animals and USPCA. We will continue to work with councillors to ensure this motion is put before the council again in the future.

Freedom for Animals welcomes these bans as a sign that animal circuses are increasingly not welcome by the public and forward-thinking local authorities. We encourage other councils to also implement bans on animal circuses as the first step towards a national ban.

Freedom for Animals launched a major campaign against animal circuses across the whole of Ireland last year, ensuring that the cruelty of animal circuses is now widely known and more members of the public are getting involved to end the suffering.

What can you do

– Boycott circuses with performing animals

– Become a Freedom for Animals supporter – you can help to make a difference

– Write to your Assembly Member/TD, asking them to support a ban animal use in circuses. Contact details can be found HERE for Republic of Ireland and HERE for Northern Ireland

– Write to your local newspaper highlighting what is wrong with circuses.

– Send a donation to help our campaigns – your contribution is vital.

Click HERE to get involved in our campaigns in the Republic of Ireland and HERE to get involved in Northern Ireland contact us info@captiveanimals.org to join our e-mail list.