THE BALLOON MAN

Circus owners Bobby and Moira Roberts have been accused of mistreating their elephant,
 but the big top can be a safe and happy place for animals

 

Circus owner Bobby Roberts with Anne the elephant and two performers. Photograph: Jade Gardner/GMWN

guardian.co.uk, 
Monday 18 June 2012
Roll up, roll up for a ringside seat as the circus steps into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, yet again. This week, it's the trial of Bobby and Moira Roberts, the owners of Bobby Roberts Super Circus, who are accused of causing Anne, Britain's last circus elephant, unnecessary suffering. They are accused of keeping her chained to the ground and failing to restrain an employee from beating her. They deny the charges.
It's the first prosecution of a circus personality since Mary Chipperfield's conviction for cruelty to a chimpanzee more than a decade ago. But for many, the words "cruel" and "circus" have become so entwined that many progressive, all-human shows have stopped using the C-word altogether, preferring the trendier term "cirque". The six animal circuses that remain, meanwhile, parade their horses, camels and llamas before dwindling audiences. Is it time we consigned the spectacle of performing animals to history?
A couple of years ago I would have said yes. But then, like many who condemn 'cruel circuses,' I hadn't been to one since childhood. I was brought up to believe that forcing animals to perform tricks is mean and distasteful. But when research for my book Circus Mania! in 2009 took me to a show at the Great British Circus, the UK's last circus with wild animals, to my surprise I came away with a different point of view.
Some things did make me cringe. When a horse went down on one knee to "bow" he looked as awkward as I felt watching him. But I was mesmerised by the gentle interaction between trainer Martin Lacey and his five Bengal tigers. There were no snapping whips or brandished chairs. The effect was similar to a domestic cat owner tapping a table and encouraging his pet to jump onto it in return for a reward. The tigers appeared intelligently engaged and it was hard not to believe Lacey's assertion that they enjoy their "organised play" in the way a dog enjoys fetching sticks thrown by its owner.
Backstage at Circus Mondao, I found camels, zebras and llamas completely comfortable being petted by visitors. As a performer pointed out: "If they were mistreated, they'd shy away from people, wouldn't they?" A protest against this circus in April accused the owners of animal exploitation, but while my subsequent interviews with current and former trainers convinced me that there have undoubtedly been instances of cruelty – just as there are cruel pet owners and brutal parents – training animals is not in itself unkind or exploitative.
read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shortcuts/2012/jun/17/animal-cruelty-circuses-bobby-roberts?newsfeed=true