Mayoral Candidates Urged To Keep Wild Animal Acts Out Of The Capital And Back National Ban
12 years ago
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Posted
5th March, 2012 16h01
Animal Defenders International (ADI) is contacting 2012 London Mayoral candidates, Mayor Boris Johnson (Conservative), Ken Livingstone (Labour), Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrat), Jenny Jones AM (Green), and Lawrence Webb (UKIP), to make a commitment to end the use of wild animals in circuses in London.
Already some 200 local authorities in the UK have successfully banned wild animals in circuses, some going further and banning all animal acts, and this includes London Boroughs such as: Croydon, Hackney, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
ADI is calling for a commitment following the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announcement this week to delay the wild animal circus ban it acknowledges is needed, in favour of an “interim” licensing scheme. Licensing is considered inadequate for animal protection and is unanimously opposed by vets and animal protection groups.
In defiance of overwhelming public and parliamentary support for a ban, legislation has been promised for 2015 (after the next General Election), but no timetable or details have been provided.
Deferring action until 2015 means that a ban would be unlikely to follow a licensing regime, which it is felt would inevitably be deemed a “success” for the Coalition Government. ADI Chief Executive Jan Creamer described the move as “Perhaps the most cynical animal welfare announcement ever made by a government.”
National measures to prohibit or limit the use of animals in circuses have been adopted in Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Austria, Czech Republic, Portugal, Bolivia, Peru, Singapore, Costa Rica, India and Israel and similar laws are being discussed in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and USA.
Conservative, Mark Pritchard MP who led last year’s Commons debate, which voted for a ban: “Without a proper commitment to legislation in this Parliament any claim to be listening to the will of Parliament is meaningless. This is a classic smoke and mirrors tactic by Number 10. Meantime, animals continue to suffer."
Jan Creamer: “Members of Parliament and the public are outraged by the cavalier attitude by Defra who have effectively disregarded a unanimous vote by backbench MPs and a call for a ban by 95% of respondents to a Defra public consultation in 2010.”
“We will be calling on the Mayoral candidates to hear public opinion, unlike the Coalition Government, and take a stand on this issue. Opinion polls over the last decade have shown consistent public support for a ban.”
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