McLarens Circus George On Sunday 11th Jan, Bev and I put on our lion t-shirts, packed our banners and placards, and set off for George Show Grounds to demonstrate against the use of animals in McLarens Circus. We parked opposite the entrance at 2.00pm, and waited for other protesters to arrive and join us. The circus starts at 3.00pm so we had a full hour to protest. By twenty to three, no one else had arrived to protest, so I left Bev at the Jeep to go and take photos in the circus grounds. I was approached by David McLaren himself, and his manager. Initially they were hostile and demanded I delete all the photos I had taken. But as we talked and they saw I was prepared to engage with them and debate sensibly the issue of animals in circuses, their attitudes changed and we had a useful exchange:- Basically he argued:- 1 His lions are content, well treated, well fed and enjoy veterinary car 24/7 they have exercise areas and live a better life than any wild lion. 2 He is hounded by SPCA inspectors and if there were any problems at all with the condition of his animals, they would prosecute him. 3 He needs the lions to attract crowds in country towns. He could get away without animals in Cape Town or Joburg, but not in George. If he could afford it, he would not have lions or tigers in his circus. 4 He only used positive reinforcement for training and he would be a poor business man if his animals were ill-treated and in poor condition. I argued that the mood is changing in regard to the use of animals in entertainment and what was acceptable twenty years ago was no longer so. And while the condition of his performing animals may be good, there was a public perception that out of sight of the public, training methods were often cruel. McLaren did make a good point about protesters. He said that if we engaged with him constructively he would be prepared to show us around the animal quarters and exercise enclosures and discuss training methods and the lives that circus lions live. This would dispute popular perceptions that the animals spend their lives in chains or in cramped steel boxes. In future therefore I suggest that we arrange to meet the circus owners when the circus arrives in town, and give them a chance to show us around and convince us that the lives of the animals were not as bad as popularly believed.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 09:25:46 +0000
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