THE BALLOON MAN

Activists to protest at circus

 

Brian Boswell during a protest against at his circuses in Centurion.
File photo: Etienne Creux
from:  iol.co.za
By LEE RONDGANGER
June 28 2013
Durban - Animal activists are expected to gather at the old Durban drive-in on Saturday to protest against the Brian Boswell Circus’s continued use of wild animals in its show.
One of the organisers of the protests, Michael Almendro, who is embroiled in a R1-million high court character defamation case brought against him by Brian Boswell Circus, said the lawsuit had not deterred him from protesting.
Almendro said about 100 bikers from around the city and various animal and welfare groups would join tomorrow’s protest.
The protesters also planned to hand out roses to motorists at the intersection, urging them not to support the circus.
“We will not stop protesting until Boswell stops using live animals in their show,” Almendro said.
“People don’t even cage their dogs and cats and yet Boswell continues to do it to such big animals,” he said.
Georgina Boswell, spokeswoman for the circus, said she could not understand why the protest was taking place because there were no animals participating in the Durban leg of the show.
“We don’t have live animals in Durban at all, so what is the point of this?” she asked on Thursday.
Referring to the pictures on the protesters’ placards, she said: “Those are pictures they download from the internet so it is very misleading for the public. Their main purpose is to get some emotional reaction from the public.”
Boswell said the protests were being led by a small group of people.
“They stand outside and yell ‘shame on you’ to the children who visit. This does affect our business, as people wanting to come to the circus are put off by the protests,” she said.
Almendro acknowledged that there were no animals at the Durban show, but said the circus continued to use animals at their other shows.
The Brian Boswell Circus brought the defamation suit against Almendro over an 11-minute YouTube documentary titled Tigers in Tutus that was against Brian Boswell Circus’s use of wild animals.
The suit, which is two years from going to court, was lodged in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in December.
Brian Boswell’s Circus has come under public scrutiny in recent months after a Carte Blanche exposé showed elephants at the circus being beaten by employees.
The circus has confirmed that it fired two of its animal handlers after a cellphone video showing the beatings surfaced in December.