YOUR SAY: Circus animals are fine
Animal trainer Matthew Ezekiel with 11-year-old Caesar. Pic: JILL MITCHELLby Lisa Edgerton
23 Jan 12
A RINGMASTER has defended his circus after activists slammed the the show’s use of exotic animals.
Animals Australia members distributed more than 1000 flyers across Frankston and the peninsula during the circus’s visit to Hastings last week to rally support for their bid to stop shows like this one, which include animals such as lions and monkeys.
The flyers stated that keeping animals in circuses “served no educational or conservational purpose”.
But Stardust Circus ringmaster Adam St James said his animals “had a great life and had bigger enclosures than in zoos”.
“These people are radicals ... they can’t discriminate if they haven’t seen for themselves how well these animals are treated and protected,” Mr St James said.
“We put the safety and comfort of the animals, as well as humans, first.
“We have never had any cases of abuse or neglect and we get regular checks.”
Mr St James said the circus’s three lions were the 20th generation to be born at Stardust.
Animals Australia members distributed more than 1000 flyers across Frankston and the peninsula during the circus’s visit to Hastings last week to rally support for their bid to stop shows like this one, which include animals such as lions and monkeys.
The flyers stated that keeping animals in circuses “served no educational or conservational purpose”.
But Stardust Circus ringmaster Adam St James said his animals “had a great life and had bigger enclosures than in zoos”.
“These people are radicals ... they can’t discriminate if they haven’t seen for themselves how well these animals are treated and protected,” Mr St James said.
“We put the safety and comfort of the animals, as well as humans, first.
“We have never had any cases of abuse or neglect and we get regular checks.”
Mr St James said the circus’s three lions were the 20th generation to be born at Stardust.
Denise Helliwell says using exotic animals at the circus is not natural.Hastings Animals Australia spokeswoman Denise Helliwell, who visited the circus on the Hastings Foreshore last week, said it was not natural.
“What’s the point other than for us to sit and stare and laugh at them while they do things they don’t want to do,” Ms Helliwell said.
“These kinds of circuses should have died years ago.”
RSPCA spokesman Tim Pilgrim said that while the association was against animal circuses, there was no law to stop them.
“Exotic animals should not be used for entertainment purposes, but it’s not illegal,” Mr Pilgrim said.
“Lions aren’t designed to jump through hoops and be caged.”
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