ANIMAL rights protesters have called for a boycott of a circus currently performing in Heckmondwike.
The national group, the Captive Animals’ Protection Society (CAPS), is protesting over the circus’s performing bear.
Peter Jolly’s Circus, one of the few remaining circuses still to use animals, began performances on Tuesday in Popeley Fields, L
eeds Road, where it plans to remain until Sunday.
The family-run circus features camels, a zebra, horses, snakes and a black bear, Ming, which is walked into the ring during the show and drinks a bottle of milk before being returned to her cage.
Campaigners have protested outside all of its Yorkshire venues for the past month.
The RSPCA has previously offered a home in a sanctuary for 23-year-old Ming, but the circus has so far refused to let her go.
Campaigns officer for CAPS Craig Redmond, said: “Most people are now aware of the miserable lives animals endure in circuses, being moved between sites each week and travelling for most of the year. Then there are the training regimes and being made to perform.”
He urged people to write to their MP calling for a Government ban on the use of animals in circuses.
But the circus defended its use of animals.
Spokesman for Peter Jolly’s Circus, Chris Barltrop, said the people who enjoyed watching the animals perform far outnumbered the protesters.
He added: “Studies have shown that there is nothing intrinsically harmful to animals about being in a circus, and the training is good for them because it gives them something to think about.
“People who work with animals do so because they like them. Ming is one of the family, and even looked at coldly, cruelty would be counter-productive.
“People with dogs know that if you kick a dog it bites you.
“Anyone who visits the circus will see that the animals are left out all day to graze, and are in good condition.”
l Should the circus be boycotted? Vote on our online poll at www.spenboroughtoday.co.uk.
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