Wild Animals in Circuses (No.2) Bill

Written evidence submitted by Martin Lacey Jr, Circus Krone GmbH & Co. Betriebs-KG (WAC12)

My name is Martin Lacey Jnr a British citizen. I left England after my education at the age of 18, essentially due to the terror and attacks towards my family from so called animal liberation groups because of the work we do.

I don’t want to write about facts as I can talk about facts on Tuesday. What is absolutely absurd is that we are talking about banning animals in circus, without facts, but purely on ethics!

Ethics is our most strongest point, so instead of talking about scientific proof that animals are healthy and stress free, I want to touch on the basis of this so called ban.

  

As a British citizen, I believe that we should find protection from you based on our British Common Law. We are the ones who believe in democracy and justice and we will not give up this cultural fight.

History is on our side, the sciences are on our side, the astounding eyes of children, when lions enter the ring, are on our side.

They are based on the mandatory duty to save creation - we put it in religious terms, not because all of us are religious, but religion brought forth our ethics in Britain. And we understand that some of you believe our circus is unethical. 

And with this you hurt our dignity instead of allowing doubt to declare our innocence...a legal principle by which we deserve to be treated. People and animals alike: 

As circus people, we want to follow our professional and cultural calling, to sustain creation, show its beauty and let children and adults alike be inspired by that very beauty. The living images displayed in a circus provide a far superior form of education and understanding to our children than books and words can ever do.

Now we are here today, because organisations such as PETA have earned money from pointing fingers towards us, towards crimes we suppose to have committed. We are found guilty in their eyes. They are responsible for our loss of visitors by which they, as self-declared charitable organisations, earn their money out of lies and half truths which is easily proven. We only ask the public bill committee nothing less than to get the perspective right again.

As declared believers in our democratically rights, this is our ethical perspective on the question why well-directed circuses working with animals should not be banned but rather encouraged.

As far as we can go back in human history we know that mankind has always lived within interdependent relationships with animals. The idea that animals are always harmed when they live with human beings is a very new idea in history.

Yet animal rights groups have become very successful. They spread the idea that animals suffer from people who live and work with them, no matter what. No matter what! Their utopian view of our world (the presumed idea that there is such a thing as an ideal life in nature), however this cannot be based on facts, as we have never known a world with people separated from animals. On the contrary, even those who would like to abolish circuses working with animals, profit from animals, one way or the other. 

Yet, at the same time, politicians lend their ears to animal rights activists such as Peta, whose basic philosophy and ethics they do not share; often politicians even don't know their ideology.

At the same time the politicians believe that often singularly presented idea given by the media, even if it is based on lies, censorship and so called half truths.

The first statuette of mankind is 40 000 years old: The lion man. It was found in splinters in the south of Germany, carved out of mammoth ivory. It can be seen in the museum in Ulm and has also been shown in the British Museum. (It was created at a time when mountain lions were still alive in Europe.) In our circus show in Germany we have adapted that image, because we believe our ethics on the interrelationship of man and animals should not be given up. 

As an artistic and cultural institution (2005 European parliament recognised circus with animals culture) we take our calling seriously to aesthetically entertain and educate; in doing so, we draw our strength out of our families and ancestors within the context of a rich democratic European heritage. And that is why we claim history and ethics to be on our side.

We have just celebrated our 250th circus anniversary. It started with Philip Astley in Britain. And we, as circus people, are proud of being British in the very real democratic way. I hope that this hearing gives this cultural battle around circus life a new perspective of understanding of what it is all about in terms of culture, justice and beauty.  

Michele Gove recently stated wild animals like Reindeer, Zebra, and Camels, should not be forced to perform tricks. Firstly, reindeer are domesticated and have been kept for meat, hides and as a beast of burden for thousands of years. Camels are not wild, how do you think they built pyramids three to four thousand years ago without their help? llamas are recognised as domesticated, so should camels be. We really should be listening to facts not emotive rhetoric. We are being judged by those who are unqualified to do so.

Links:

 

Non-profit organisation founded by Martin Lacey Jnr., to optimize etchically correct standards of animal-care in human hands: https://www.lacey-fund.com

 

Stress-test on lions in circus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AH1LkqnR7Q&t=2s

 

Information-video- sorry in german, about safety and training: https://www.lacey-fund.com/informationsvideos-raubtiere/

 

Short video of our lovely animals: https://www.facebook.com/zirkuskrone/videos/10156432360513646/

 

Video from ethically correct animal presentation: https://youtu.be/ttjdvMAJLJw

Martin Lacey Jnr 

May 2019