Thursday, November 29, 2007

From Ralph Pierce (Baraboo)


Scan000010522, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Buckles
(see attachment) Here is a article sent to me by Robert Harmel, he is a circus enthusiast formerly from Baraboo, but is a
professor in a college in Texas for many years. A friend contact in Europe has sent him this article and I
thought I would forward on to you if you have not seen it.
Take care and have a good holiday, it is getting cold up here now. Be in Florida the end of January please
make it warm down there at that time.
Ralph & Joan Pierce


To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site, go
to http://www.guardian.co.uk

Nelly the elephant unpacked her trunk and decided to stay at the circus
after all
· Study finds animals kept in adequate conditions · RSPCA
criticises scope of government-backed report
James Randerson, science correspondent
Wednesday November 21 2007
The Guardian


Sinbad and Zebedee will be pounding the sawdust under their big top for a
while longer thanks to a government-backed report which concluded there was
no evidence that circus animals were kept in worse conditions than animals
in other captive environments.


The result will delight the four British circuses out of 27 that still use
animals in their acts - including Circus Mondao, which keeps the two
performing zebras. But ministers at the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs are left with an awkward decision on whether to ban wild
animals in circuses after the report they commissioned into the science of
animal welfare gave little to go on.

Animal circuses are much less common in Britain than in Europe. Although it
is possible to watch acts including crocodiles, lions, snakes and even a
kangaroo, the report estimates just 47 animals work regularly in circus
rings in this country.

The circus community argues that animal shows are an important part of our
cultural heritage, that the animals only perform natural behaviours and are
kept to the best possible welfare standards.

Animal rights organisations argue that subjecting animals to training and
transport between venues for entertainment is unethical. They are furious
the working group which produced the report was given a restricted remit to
look only at transportation and housing needs of non-domesticated species
and not training.

On this question the report concludes there is not enough good scientific
evidence to make the case either way.

"For the status quo to be changed the balance of evidence would have to
present a convincing and coherent argument for change," the working group's
academic panel of six animal welfare experts wrote. "Such an argument, based
on a sound scientific basis, has not been made ... There appears to be
little evidence to demonstrate that the welfare of animals kept in
travelling circuses is any better or worse than that of animals kept in
other captive environments."

Animal rights campaigners were dismayed at the judgment. "We didn't need a
report telling us something that we already knew, which is the lack of peer
reviewed studies on the treatment of circus animals," said a spokeswoman for
the RSPCA. She said that although there were few studies on exotic species,
studies of the transportation of other species such as farm animals could be
applied.

Those on the industry side say the report negates what they regard as a
prolonged campaign of smears linking circuses with cruelty. "The animal
rights people have made that word circus so dirty," said Petra Jackson,
ringmistress at Circus Mondao. "People have got to open their eyes and see
what circus is about now and not what it was about 30 years ago. I really do
think it is snobbery. You can go to a county show and see people doing dog
agility, but when you see people doing dog agility in a circus it all of a
sudden becomes wrong."

Chris Barltropp of the union Equity was chairman of the industry
sub-committee which contributed to the report. "It does seem that the circus
community has been vindicated by this report. At last we have reached a
point where we can set aside the name calling which has been going on for
years from the animal rights organisations," he said.

The report leaves ministers in a tricky position. Many MPs and peers are in
favour of a ban. In March 2006 Ben Bradshaw, a Defra minister said in
parliament: "I sympathise with the view that performances by some wild
animals in travelling circuses are not compatible with meeting welfare
needs." He said the government wanted to introduce regulations under the
Animal Welfare Act rather than through primary legislation, but the author
of the current report believes that will not be possible.

Mike Radford, an expert on the legal aspects of animal welfare at Aberdeen
University, said: "[Ministers] gave commitments in parliament that a ban
would be based on scientific evidence and as yet there isn't any."

Responding to the report, the environment secretary, Hilary Benn, said: "The
government will now want to hear reactions ... and consider its position."

An Ipsos Mori opinion poll in October 2005 for Animal Defenders
International found that 80% of people agree that the use of wild animals in
circuses should be banned - 65% thought that all performing animals should
be banned.

Roll up, roll up Britain's big top animals

The Great British Circus

1 kangaroo

2 llamas

4 reindeer

5 lions

7 tigers

7 camels

1 zebra

Bobby Roberts Super Circus

1 elephant (touring but retired from performance)

1 camel

Circus Mondao

3 zebras

2 llamas

2 camels

Jolly's Circus

2 crocodiles

1 zebra

1 ankole (a form of African cattle)

1 llama

6 snakes

Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited

5 comments:

David said...

It seems ironic and somewhat humorous to me that a blog which vilifies Ralph Helfer starts the day with the picture from the cover of his book "Modoc." I don't own a copy, but I read it recently, and it sure looks like the same picture.

Buckles said...

I chose this picture since it comes from Roberts Circus in Great Britian and relates to the article.
Don't tell me Helfer even lifted this.

Anonymous said...

What the Guardian could have pointed out, and didn't is that the RSPCA's quibbles with the new report, rejecting the findings because they don't "need" a study to know that they're right continues to ignore their own findings based on Dr Marthe Kiley-Worthington's work on RSPCA's behalf in the 1990's. Animal Liberation always tries to pretend that they have the science, then when confronted with real science, they've mighty quick to do a 180 degree turn and pretend that science isn't important. Meanwhile Asian elephant herds continue to dwindle rapidly while the growing Chinese ivory market fuels increased poaching in Africa. They just don't get it. Animal Rights is a one way street leading to species extinction.

David said...

To satisfy my curiosity, I stopped at the library on my way home. The picture you posted is definitely the one on the cover of Helfer's book, sdvertised as "a true story." What a deception!

Anonymous said...

That picture, in poster form, is quite common. Saw it yesterday at a Red Robin hamburger joint