Examination of Witnesses (Questions 540-544)
MARTIN BURTON,
JAMES CLUBB,
MALCOLM CLAY,
RONA BROWN
AND PETER
SCOTT
16 SEPTEMBER 2004
Q540 Mr Lepper: Would a similar system
work in this country? Would it be suitable in this country?
Rona Brown: Yes, it would. Unfortunately—I
think unfortunately—there is not that availability of wide
animals in this country. Because of the antis over the years people
have gone out of wild animals. In fact, the only supplier we have
at the moment is Jim, who supplies wild animals to the industry.
Jim has always been very responsible with this retirement. Whether
there would be a need for it here or not I do not know.
James Clubb: I am in two camps
really. My main activity business-wise is animals in the film
industry but because of my past having worked in circus that is
why I am here today because of my knowledge and from the lack
of people who do had wild animals in circuses.
Q541 Chairman: Just to follow on with
this line of questioning: can you give us a flavour of what kind
of money we are talking about in terms of the fee income that
can be generated? If we take a television commercial, which is
probably the most usual way in which we see animals and people
working together in the field of entertainment, if I can put it
this way, if you had an attractive dog and it was involved in
the production of a 30 second commercial what kind of fee income
might the owner expect from such an activity?
Rona Brown: If I get called for
a dog, my basic fee per day for a dog is £550. For prep,
it is half of that.
Q542 Chairman: "Prep" is?
Rona Brown: Preparing the dog
or training the dog prior to the filming day. We charge half for
prep. However, out of that money I have to pay the owner probably
£200, £225. I have insurance which has over recent times
gone up to over 20,000 a year to keep my business, to be able
to go on and work with wild animals. I have advertising which
is 6,000 a year to pay. The costs, although £550 a day seems
a lot, the actual costs of running the business are enormous;
complying with all the regulation, keeping the vehicles on the
road, everything up together, having people to write risk assessments,
keeping the staff for training the animals. With that dog, we
would not only just send one person with it. We would send a coordinator
with the dog. We would send the trainer with the dog; it might
be the same person. We would also have a groom, a dog handler
with the dog and maybe a driver. You have two or three maybe four
people would go on that set with the dog.
Q543 Chairman: I want to draw our questioning
to a conclusion by asking you, Miss Brown, about a point that
you make at the end of your written evidence. You express concern
that if the RSPCA had responsibility, as you describe it, for
providing a national database of licences or even prosecutions
that would leave a loophole for other animal rights organisations
to have access to all persons. You clearly want records of qualified
people in your own industry or anything else to be independently
kept, do you?
Rona Brown: Definitely with the
Government involved or whoever, local authorities. The problem
we do have and have had for some time is that we do get attacked
the same as the research centre, like the Huntingdon Services,
we get attacked by the antis if we work with a dangerous wild
animal and they come and attack us. We do not get any protection.
There have been, at one time when I used work with chimpanzees,
I was given a mirror to look under my car because I was threatened
with car bombs. However good a welfare organisation is, and I
do believe that the RSPCA is one of the better ones, the animal
rights people have an alliance all together and I think that it
would leave open to them a way for them to get at us if they so
wished.
Q544 Chairman: Fine. Can I thank you
all very much indeed for your contributions? Again, thank you
for your written evidence. If as a result of the exchange we have
had this morning there is an issue which you feel we have not
covered and there is a further thought you may have please do
not hesitate to put it in writing if necessary. Thank you very
much indeed.
Rona Brown: Thank you.
| 
