Wild Animals in Circuses (No.2) Bill

Written evidence submitted by Raymond Dolling (WAC07)

WILD ANIMALS IN CIRCUSES (No.2) BILL

In relation to the above, I would like the following to be considered by the House of Commons Public Bill Committee:

1 . When previous proposed legislation relating to the use of wild animals in travelling circuses was scrutinised by the all-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, the committee decided a total ban "went too far", would create anomalies, and should be re-drawn with a prescriptive list of species considered suitable for presentation in circuses. I entirely endorse this view.

2 . The present system whereby circuses with "wild" animals (insofar as they cannot accurately be described as such, having been captive-bred through many generations) are subject to a rigorous inspection scheme and licensed annually, has been working well and should be continued.

3 . Logically, any basis for a ban on animal keeping should be assessed on the available evidence that relates to the actual welfare of the animals concerned.

Unfortunately the despite the government conceding that there is no such evidence, it has sadly given in to the propaganda of those organisations that can fairly be said to constitute the animal rights industry, and wishes to ban wild animals in circuses on no more than dubious "ethical" grounds.

May 2019