From Ralph Pierce (Baraboo)

Scan000010522, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Buckles (see attachment) Here is a article sent to me by Robert Harmel, he is a circus enthusiast formerly from Baraboo, but is a professor in a college in Texas for many years. A friend contact in Europe has sent him this article and I thought I would forward on to you if you have not seen it. Take care and have a good holiday, it is getting cold up here now. Be in Florida the end of January please make it warm down there at that time. Ralph & Joan Pierce To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk Nelly the elephant unpacked her trunk and decided to stay at the circus after all · Study finds animals kept in adequate conditions · RSPCA criticises scope of government-backed report James Randerson, science correspondent Wednesday November 21 2007 The Guardian Sinbad and Zebedee will be pounding the sawdust under their big top for a while longer thanks to a government-backed report which concluded there was no evidence that circus animals were kept in worse conditions than animals in other captive environments. The result will delight the four British circuses out of 27 that still use animals in their acts - including Circus Mondao, which keeps the two performing zebras. But ministers at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are left with an awkward decision on whether to ban wild animals in circuses after the report they commissioned into the science of animal welfare gave little to go on. Animal circuses are much less common in Britain than in Europe. Although it is possible to watch acts including crocodiles, lions, snakes and even a kangaroo, the report estimates just 47 animals work regularly in circus rings in this country. The circus community argues that animal shows are an important part of our cultural heritage, that the animals only perform natural behaviours and are kept to the best possible welfare standards. Animal rights organisations argue that subjecting animals to training and transport between venues for entertainment is unethical. They are furious the working group which produced the report was given a restricted remit to look only at transportation and housing needs of non-domesticated species and not training. On this question the report concludes there is not enough good scientific evidence to make the case either way. "For the status quo to be changed the balance of evidence would have to present a convincing and coherent argument for change," the working group's academic panel of six animal welfare experts wrote. "Such an argument, based on a sound scientific basis, has not been made ... There appears to be little evidence to demonstrate that the welfare of animals kept in travelling circuses is any better or worse than that of animals kept in other captive environments." Animal rights campaigners were dismayed at the judgment. "We didn't need a report telling us something that we already knew, which is the lack of peer reviewed studies on the treatment of circus animals," said a spokeswoman for the RSPCA. She said that although there were few studies on exotic species, studies of the transportation of other species such as farm animals could be applied. Those on the industry side say the report negates what they regard as a prolonged campaign of smears linking circuses with cruelty. "The animal rights people have made that word circus so dirty," said Petra Jackson, ringmistress at Circus Mondao. "People have got to open their eyes and see what circus is about now and not what it was about 30 years ago. I really do think it is snobbery. You can go to a county show and see people doing dog agility, but when you see people doing dog agility in a circus it all of a sudden becomes wrong." Chris Barltropp of the union Equity was chairman of the industry sub-committee which contributed to the report. "It does seem that the circus community has been vindicated by this report. At last we have reached a point where we can set aside the name calling which has been going on for years from the animal rights organisations," he said. The report leaves ministers in a tricky position. Many MPs and peers are in favour of a ban. In March 2006 Ben Bradshaw, a Defra minister said in parliament: "I sympathise with the view that performances by some wild animals in travelling circuses are not compatible with meeting welfare needs." He said the government wanted to introduce regulations under the Animal Welfare Act rather than through primary legislation, but the author of the current report believes that will not be possible. Mike Radford, an expert on the legal aspects of animal welfare at Aberdeen University, said: "[Ministers] gave commitments in parliament that a ban would be based on scientific evidence and as yet there isn't any." Responding to the report, the environment secretary, Hilary Benn, said: "The government will now want to hear reactions ... and consider its position." An Ipsos Mori opinion poll in October 2005 for Animal Defenders International found that 80% of people agree that the use of wild animals in circuses should be banned - 65% thought that all performing animals should be banned. Roll up, roll up Britain's big top animals The Great British Circus 1 kangaroo 2 llamas 4 reindeer 5 lions 7 tigers 7 camels 1 zebra Bobby Roberts Super Circus 1 elephant (touring but retired from performance) 1 camel Circus Mondao 3 zebras 2 llamas 2 camels Jolly's Circus 2 crocodiles 1 zebra 1 ankole (a form of African cattle) 1 llama 6 snakes Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited