Britain's Shame - A Reader's Reflection

MONTE CARLO, MONACO - JANUARY 18: Princess Stephanie of Monaco sits astride an elephant from the American circus troupe ahead of the 35th edition of the Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival on January 18, 2011 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. The International Circus Festival will be held between January 20 to January 30, 2011. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)There is little doubting that British animal circuses are in the darkest days of their 244 year old existence. A ban on wild animals in circus in the UK seems imminent. Despite eventually agreeing to government enforced regulations - something the Association of Circus Proprietors have been pushing for over the past 20 years or so - the UK coalition government has issued a statement that it intends to ban the use of wild animals in circuses by 2015. In a outrageous ministerial statement the government has admitted they cannot enforce a ban based on a system of logic and rationality, science, so they now wish to proceed anyway and base their argument on "ethics". We will, no doubt, come to this very dark moment in British politics again on this blog.

Invented in the UK as a new type of equestrian show and eventually merged with wild animal menageries street theatre the traditional circus became a global phenomenon that captured the imagination of virtually every country in the world.  It is part of Americana in the United States and has had a place in the hearts of Canadians and South Americans since the 19th century. In Japan huge six pole Big Tops cram in packed houses, as queues encircle the gigantic grounds that are booked for engagements that last months on end.  Today animal circus is revered and protected as an art-form in most of Western Europe. Bans have encroached on some countries, such as Greece, where a cynic might regard this drastic piece of legislation to be something of a diversionary tactic when one considers the problems that particular country faces. However, in France, Spain and Italy the circus still stands strong and it is on that little principality set between France and Italy, Monaco, where the anonymous writer of this following reflective and heartfelt piece finds their inspiration...

So you think PeTA and other animal-rights groups don't support terrorists?

Image by Brendan Loy via Flickr

At the time of writing this, it is coming up to 10 years since 9/11 when terrorists crashed three planes into the Twin Towers buildings in New York and The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia killing not only themselves but also just under 3000 men, women and children. 

One of the responses to these tragic events was the Homeland Security Act of 2002 creating the Department of Homeland Security whose main tasks was to protect the mainland USA against the attacks from terrorists.  In May 2008 United States Department of Homeland Security’s National Preparedness Directorate prepared a briefing document entitled: “Ecoterrorism: Environmental and Animal-Rights Militants in the United States”.  

Dr Ted Friend on elephants and animal training

Back in 2009 an attempt was made to introduce an AR-inspired guideline on elephant husbandry "Elephant in the Room" as a standard protocol in S.Africa - Prof Ted Friend kindly wrote an opinion for South African circuses. He also cites some interesting studies and papers he has published on circus animal behaviour.

Dr. Ted Friend

3785 W. Villa Maria Rd.

Bryan, Texas 77807 U.S.A.

3 June 2009

Mr B. Madikizela

Director, Regulation and Monitoring

Dept of Environmental Affairs and Monitoring Services

Re: Proposed Restrictions for Elephant Management.

Dear Mr Madikizela

I am a professor of Animal Science at Texas A&M University, at College Station, Texas. A native of New York, I received my B.S. degree at Cornell and my M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Virginia Tech. I am also a Registered Professional Animal Scientist and a Diplomate of the American College of Applied Behavior  Sciences. The Diplomate certification is the highest certification possible in the Applied Behavior Sciences. I have been conducting behavior and stress-related research on a wide range of species for over 30 years. Much of my research has been on animal welfare-related issues and was stimulated by requests from moderate animal welfare groups. In 1981 I received the Felix-Wankel International Award (Germany) for research promoting animal welfare. In 1986 the Animal Protection Institute (California) honored me as their Humanitarian of the Year.