Wild Animals in Circuses (No.2) Bill

Written evidence submitted by Carol MacManus, Animal trainer, Circus Mondao (WAC11)

Dear committee members

You intend to ban exotic animals in circuses. As in my opinion there are no wild animals in circuses in England at present time.

WILD ANIMALS = Sadly a legal definition but certainly not a description for our animals here at Circus Mondao, perhaps it should have another name like EXOTIC DOMESTIC ANIMALS, to differentiate from DANGEROUS WILD ANIMAL, eg, CAMELS are domesticated in most areas of the world . There are 3 species of camel domesticated dromedary, domesticated Bactrian and the wild Bactrian (there are approx only 100 wild Bactrian camels left in the world) the domesticated Bactrian and dromedary have been domesticated for thousands of years.

The BAN has nothing to do with welfare or safety of the animals or the public who view them as there will still be racing camels and reindeer at Christmas events and falconry displays touring the country putting on displays / shows but because we are a circus we are discriminated against, it’s purely ETHICS of what some people who shout the loudest think is right or wrong, what will be next no human interaction with any wild animal? So that will be the camel racing stopped , falconry displays stopped , zoos banned, but will the reindeer at Christmas events also be banned as reindeer are only classed as a WILD ANIMAL when they live at a circus ! At present anyone can own a reindeer without holding a DWA.

Our Exotic animals are all breed in the UK. Humbug our zebra and Kachana our camel are born and breed UK circus stock. Their parents and grandparents are zoo or safari parks born and breed.

Would it be fare on these animals to be torn away from the only life style they have known? They are herd animals and I know it would be detrimental to some of our animals to be torn away from the only family they have known. If the bill is not amended these animal will have to be left at the circus winter quarters without the family they are so familiar with. The same has just happened in Mexico over 2000 circus animals died after they brought in a ban of animals in circus, but the ban has just been overturned but that did not help the animals that have already lost they lives.

Would it not be better to keep the regulations with a condition that when these 19 circus animals life has come to an end the circuses in the UK can’t replace then?

The two circuses that do have exotic animals are licence by Defra. We circus Mondao and Jolly’s have a very high standard of animal husbandry the Defra report speak volumes. We urge you to read the report in full to get a better understanding of the outstanding care and husbandry both circuses dedicate to their family of animals it can be found online the heading is . THE WELFARE OF WILD ANIMALS IN TRAVELLING CIRCUSES (ENGLAND) REGULATIONS 2012: POST IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW 2018 January 2018.

Here i have copy and pasted a few quotes from that report , if you take the time you will read the full report online you will see that we do nothing wrong in the keeping of our animals to keep traditional animals in circus.

The Regulations appear to have established an effective licensing scheme to promote and monitor high welfare standards for wild animals in our travelling circuses in England. Over the five years the scheme has been in force, over 90% of licensing conditions/standards have been met first time.

Each inspection report requires inspectors to assess the circus against seventeen different conditions or standards representing the ten licensing conditions in the Regulations (note: not every inspection would have assessed all seventeen conditions/standards as some inspections were follow-up or special inspections undertaken to inspect or review a specific issue or problem). Each condition or standard is assessed during an inspection as either Green (signifying full compliance or minor breach but no action required), Amber (breach identified, remedial action required) or Red (significant breach, action required).

In summary, some 586 conditions or standards were assessed over the five years of the scheme. 548 – or over 90% - of those conditions were assessed as Green first time during an inspection. Of the 38 conditions (4 Red and 34 Amber) not rated Green, 23 were subsequently rated Green by the time of the next inspection. Therefore, over 95% of conditions were assessed as Green either in the first inspection or by the next inspection.

WHAT IS ETHICS?

The simplest explanation is, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives; ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy.

I have a moral and ethical obligation to exhibit our animals as ambassadors; Their are a large amount of the population who cannot afford to go on safari or even trips to the zoo. Our magnificent animals provide the ability for many to see, thus care about the animals, It has been proven that the more in the forefront animals remain, the more people care about them and support them. Human animal relationship is strongly beneficial to both parties. So what about my moral right to be able to keep and work with my animal family? Is it ethical to remove animals from a safe and happy environment that they have been raised in? Is it ethical to tear our animals away from us and the rest of their herd? Some who we have hand reared from babies. If you have ever had a pet or raised an animal you will be aware of the very close bond that you have with them, how would you feel after raising an animal and living with the animal for many years that its torn away from you due to a tiny minority of activists and people who do not understand the intricate relationship we have with our animals, who think it’s not ethical so should be banned.

Before you make a decision on the lives of my 5 lovely animals.

I want you to come and see the animals and how they live, how content they are.

Not just listen to the out of date propaganda and lies that animal rights lobbying group want you to believe. (old photos or out of date circus animals of photos of Circus animals not even in the UK)

So I urge you to make the right decision and let us keep our beloved animals. With the new licensing system AAL.

Yours sincerely

Carol MacManus

May 2019