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Original poster

Would you take your child to a circus with.........

41 replies

tenbygirl · 12/02/2007 16:45

tigers, lions, zebras, etc.

Its coming to town next week. DD really wants to go but I'm unhappy about supporting such a set up.
Even if they do look after their animals as best they can, travelling around in a cage is no life for them.

OP posts:
hana · 12/02/2007 16:45

nope

KezzaG · 12/02/2007 16:46

no, would not want to support any setup which involves animals as entertainment.

TrinityRhino · 12/02/2007 16:46

hmmm tricky one

I know my 6 yr old would absolutely LOVE to go to and I would feel awful for the animals....hmm I think I would go but then never again

not sure if thats right but having thought long and hard that is what I would do.

spudmasher · 12/02/2007 16:46

no

VioletBaudelaire · 12/02/2007 16:46

No - surprised there are still travelling circuses that have these animals, TBH.

TrinityRhino · 12/02/2007 16:46
twinsetandpearls · 12/02/2007 16:48

No, I took dd to one with horses a few years ago whicih was a huge mistake and I wish we had never been talked into it. WEhad to walk pastlots of protestors which was hardand we didn't last very long inside. Very upsetting, but it taught dd the importance of looking afer animals. But Ia m sure there woud ahve been a better way of getting this across.

I thoguth such circuses were illegal.

KezzaG · 12/02/2007 16:48

Use it as an opportunity to explain to your dd about respect for animals and then take her to a really good wildlife park where a natural environment and protection in the wild are priority, like Howletts or Monkeyworld.

kittylette · 12/02/2007 16:49

yes i would but id do as kezzag suggested

Original poster
tenbygirl · 12/02/2007 16:49

I thought they'd all been banned as well.

OP posts:
Beetrootccio · 12/02/2007 16:50

I did when we were in france. a monkey, tigers, elephants, horses. It was amazing.

HuwEdwards · 12/02/2007 16:50

I thought it was illegal.

But to answer the OP, no.

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 12/02/2007 16:53

no. Think about what it is you're supporting. Even if you think your child would love it, by going, you are giving money to the perpitrators of these acts and by doing that you are giving the message that you think what they do is right. If you think it's wrong, then you never, ever, give them money.

Whoooosh · 12/02/2007 16:54

Absolutely not I am afraid.

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 12/02/2007 16:55

"tigers, elephants. it was amazing".

no it's barbaric. it's one thing having animals in zoos and wildlife parks where people can be taught about conservation and where rare species can be bred in order to preserve the species in the future, it is quite another propogating these animals for entertainment and keeping them in cages so small they bearly have room to move.

brandy7 · 12/02/2007 16:56

no

Beetrootccio · 12/02/2007 16:57

actually it was amazing. we did not know that there were animals when we went. and it was so shocking and so terribly un pc but amazing as welll. It was extraordinary seeing animals so close up and trained so specifically.

twinsetandpearls · 12/02/2007 16:57

Apparantly no ban which surprised me, takes from this site
Circuses:
The committee states: "It is poor logic on the part of Defra [Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] to suggest that a ban on performing animals in circuses is not necessary because the number of performing animals in circuses is declining."

They recommended that the use of wild animals is prohibited and the use of domestic animals is licensed. They have also asked for clarification on whether international circuses visiting England and Wales will be regulated.

CAPS welcome a ban on using wild animals but we continue to call for a complete ban on using all animals in circuses. Domestic animals also suffer through their restricted housing, transportation and training methods. We believe that circuses visiting Britain should not be allowed to bring animals with them.

wheresthehamster · 12/02/2007 16:58

No I have thought about it but we have enjoyed visiting circuses that don't have animals and the dds don't associate circuses with animals just clowns and acrobatics.

I don't think animals actually perform any more do they? Isn't it more bareback riding on horses sort of thing?

When I was a child the circuses had performing dogs, tigers, bears and monkeys, I'm sure (and hope) it's not like that now.

FioFio · 12/02/2007 16:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

twinsetandpearls · 12/02/2007 16:59

I read soemwhere that winning fish at a fair is also illegal but dd went to a fair with her dad and won one.

BigmummaL · 12/02/2007 17:00

No I would not take my DS to a circus with animals or a zoo come to that! Each to their own though, just my personal opinion.

DimpledThighs · 12/02/2007 17:00

no - circus has always been a crap dissappointment all round. Top that with a few tortured animals and sounds like hell.

twinsetandpearls · 12/02/2007 17:00

O think the governemt wants to make it illegal - animals in circuses - but there has been some opposition as it is part of our heritage!!

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 12/02/2007 17:02

Beetrootccio but the reason they are "trained so amazingly" is because they are beaten into submition and are then starved until they perform, and are then rewarded with food for performing, hence why they do it so well.

I have to say I felt not a jot of sympathy when one of the better known circus trainers over here had his arm severed by a tiger some years back.