Rescued circus cats one year later

[Catherine]

A number of circus lions and tigers have ended up at an Animal Defenders Sanctuary in South Africa. The sanctuary is 455 acres and the cats are able to live natural lives for the first time. The sanctuary did a video so we can see what life is like now for former circus animals.

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsan...ats-video/

They do look happy don't they. It is nice to know that as circuses phase out their animals acts, those animals have a happy future ahead of them in various sanctuaries.
It was noticeable that some of the cats were damaged. One female lion was missing an eye. These animals could not be returned to the wild because they would not survive. The sanctuary is a sheltered wild experience. We can't change the past these former circus  animals have suffered, but we can make things right for them.

[LPC]

Yesterday we stopped for a little shopping at a small supermarket and there was a circus setting up nearby. The circus people had put their horses on a field next to the supermarket. I looked at the horses closely. They appeared to be OK from a distance, but as I approached the electric fence and observed their behaviour I saw that about half had trouble with their eyes; they were squinted up, as if they were not used to the light or perhaps were infected. They did not look happy. They were not running or interacting with each other, just eating grass slowly and with little enthusiasm.

Sadly, circus animals are still being used in France. Not "wild animals" like lions and tigers - but horses and other animals classed as bred by humans over generations and hence "domestic". This is a loophole in French law and the circus people are exploiting it to the full.

Wild animals are being phased out of circuses via legislation. See:
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210...n-circuses

This is not immediate; it is phased. But it is better than nothing.

However, the use of domestic animals does not seem to be banned. Hence the exploitation of the poor horses I saw.

I suspect that UK legislation may have similar loopholes, as the ban there is on wild animals, just like here. What is the position in Canada, Catherine?

[Catherine]

The new French law has its good points, but it doesn't protect domestic animals from exploitation. Horses in circuses lead hard lives.
Horses are not well protected anywhere. They are used for racing and hauling tourists and other exploitive work. If they don't keep up the pace they get sold off for slaughter. There is not much joy in the life of a horse in any country.


Canada does not have a Federal law against using wild animals in circuses.  We do not have provincial bans either. What we have is municipal bans on the use of wildlife in circuses. A lot of cities have banned the use of wild animals in circuses. Some of our circuses are wild animal free. Cirque de Soleil, a Canadian based circus, has never had animals. It is totally human entertainers.
We do have some circuses with animals and of course we have some aquariums.

I am not sure we will ever have a federal law. Canada is a funny country when it comes to jurisdiction. Different things are handled by different levels of government. It is not unusual for debates to go on for years as to who is in charge of something. If it is a good thing all levels of government want it. If it is a bad thing they all try to pass it to another level of government. I suppose all that really matters is city bans on animals in circuses. If the city says no, it doesn't matter what they rest of the government says. It only matters what the big cities say. No small town is hosting a circus anyhow.
Rodeos is another matter. There are small towns with rodeos. There is still a lot of work to be done.

One thing is certain. Animals that are retired from circuses have places to go. There are a number of sanctuaries set up to receive them. 
There are even sea sanctuaries being set up to receive animals retired from aquarium shows. So that excuse for keeping circus animals in the circus, just doesn't work.


The argument that more people go to circuses with animals doesn't work either. There are few animal free circuses for people to attend. If we gave people a choice we might find that people no longer want to watch animals performing tricks. We know too much about how those animals live.