A circus with performing animals is likely to be barred from the borough after animal rights protesters picketed Walsall Arboretum during its last visit.
Bobby Roberts Super Circus has asked for permission to pitch its big top in the park next year but the request has failed to win favour and is set to be turned down.
It follows outcry among campaigners during the last visit, in May 2006, when individual activists and RSPCA representatives staged protests at the arboretum.
The touring circus has performing stallions and ponies and a retired arthritic Indian elephant, called Anne, who visitors can pay to have their photograph taken with during the interval.
Much of the protest centred on Anne, aged 54, who has been with the group for almost 50 years, and prompted calls for her to be released.
It was revealed after the last visit that Walsall Council earns £250 a day and up to £2,000 for eight days hiring its land out to touring circuses.
Despite this, officers are recommending cabinet members refuse the application at their April 19 meeting. Ringmaster Bobby Roberts said: “Our standards of animal husbandry are excellent, Anne gets the best possible veterinary care and is lovingly looked after 24/7.”
6 Comments
Typical of these losers who want to stop anyone having a good time.
These people who accuse circus workers of animal cruelty are mad, circus people earn a living from their animals so they don’t mistreat them they receive the best of care.
Most children would never have the opportunity to see animals such as lions tigers and elephants if it were not for circuses
Bobby Roberts idea of Anne being ‘lovingly looked after’ and mine differ in a huge way, I wouldn’t call dragging Anne around the country from place to place being ‘looked after’. He fails to mention that for publicity he has walked his animals through shopping centres, the stress levels for these poor creatures must be immeasurable.
Just for once Roberts, put your animals first and let Anne retire to a suitable sanctuary and live her life out in peace and be amongst her own kind.
The sooner this type of circus dies out the better.
There are many excellent all-human circuses which entertain families without exploiting animals. A travelling circus can never provide for the needs of animals, particularly an elephant (very social animals who naturally walk many miles).
CAPS (www.captiveanimals.org) encourages the public to avoid animal circuses and Walsall Council not to allow them on public land.
do any of you activists realise that these animals were born into this. setting them free would cause the animal far more stress and discomfort, with not having the skills and ability to interact with others of their own species.
I agree that no more new animals should be brought into circuses, however we should let the existing ones continue until they cant any more, and have to be retired.
Just typical of animal rights protestors. For once, why not work with traditional animal circuses, therefore you can improve any living conditions for animals which may need improving.
Considering 99% of animal rights protestors NEVER watch animal acts, see the training(which is not all done behind closed doors, despite their claims), see the stables and exercise areas, i am not really sure how you can justify your comments and actions.
As for retiring Anne the elephant to a suitable santuary, can somebody please tell me where there is one. I am led to believe the nearest elephant santuary is in America. Hardly suitable.
Animal circus is a very easy cause for some people to demonstrate against.
Bout time they picked on people who are actually causing animals to suffer, but then that would probably be too much like hard work.
All animal rights protestors should be made by law to work in zoos and circuses and other animal husbandry systems they criticise, so they can see the love, care and attention that these wonderful performing animals recieve.
Danny,
No one is stopping anyone from having a good time. There are plenty of ways to have fun that do not require the exploitation of other sentient beings. Regardless of what kind of care these animals receive, one can be sure that animals would prefer to live much different lives, if left to their own devices, which is their right.
On the other hand, no person has a *right* to see animals for the sake of their own amusement. If our children want to make sure our world remains populated with exotic animals, we would do well to teach them about animal rights and environmental responsibility.