The Mystery of Merlin the Circus Donkey That Never Was.

"Nellie" the elephant may well have packed her trunk and said goodbye to the circus but in the case of "Merlin" the donkey this never happened because he was never in a circus in the first place.

Anyone who was on Facebook with an interest in circuses on the night of 4 August 2015 would have been alerted to to a link by the donkey and horse sanctuary in Cornwall called the Flicka Foundation. In a posting, this group made an allegation that one of their donkeys "Merlin" was rescued from an abusive situation in a circus. The Foundation also made various "factual" claims regarding abuse in circuses in general. Unfortunately they could not provide any references or evidence supporting this position. Due to this a number of circus supporters politely commented on this thread posting various facts and examples of why we did not believe that in general circuses with animals are by their nature cruel.

Britain's got Talented Liars

circus (Photo credit: fsse8info)

Our country is known worldwide for its love of animals.  In fact, we can be proud of the fact that the world’s first animal welfare charity, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which later on became the RSPCA, was established in this country in 1824.  The love and respect for animals and their needs is a quintessential part of our culture and is reflected both in our animal welfare legislation and in the way people interact with animals on a daily basis.

I have been working with dogs for years, and still people take me by surprise with their extreme kindness towards their pets.  I have several elderly customers, not in the best of health, who take their equally elderly dogs out on strollers so they can enjoy a nice walk without overexerting themselves.  I know plenty of ladies who perm and dye their own hair at home but fork out every month for their dogs to have “a proper groom”, because they “deserve it”.  In fact, I’m willing to bet that a good proportion of my doggy customers eat better than their owners, and definitely better than me.  Let’s face it; most of us are animal-mad here.  We treat our animals well, and expect other people to maintain the same high standards with their animals.