Last week a lioness and 8 tigers died while traveling through Siberia in a Russian traveling circus ironically called “Dream.”
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According to the report, the animals were forced to travel more than 20 hours in a refrigerator container with no heating, and were exposed to exhaust fumes; as a result, the animals slowly suffocated and froze to death.
Just a week prior to this incident, three tigers escaped from a Mexican circus when their cage opened while traveling on the highway. Two of the tigers are still loose.
Although these two tragic incidents took place outside the United States, they call attention to a very important animal welfare and public safety issue inherent in all traveling animal shows regardless of location.
Animals used in traveling shows very frequently spend the bulk of their lives in transport containers both during travel and between shows.
This is no life for wildlife!
In November 2009, Born Free USA told the USDA Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service (APHIS) — the government agency charged with enforcing the Animal Welfare Act which covers wild animals used in entertainment — that the agency should take a closer regulatory look at transport and living conditions of animals used in traveling shows.
Currently there is a serious loophole in the Animal Welfare Act which allows for transport carriers to effectively constitute “primary enclosures” for traveling animals, and as such allows traveling exhibitors to skirt the minimum freedom of movement and exercise requirements provided under that Act.
Born Free USA told APHIS,
Given that many animals used in traveling shows are “on the road” for up to 11 months out of the year, this Act allows some animals to legally spend nearly their entire lives in containers that fail to meet the primary enclosure requirements under the Act.
In addition elephants may spend nearly their entire lives chained or otherwise without “adequate freedom of movement” as required by the Act. In a recent federal lawsuit against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, which [our] organization was a Plaintiff, evidence revealed that Ringling’s elephants spend on average more than 26 hours, and sometimes for as much as 60–100 hours, chained as the circus moves across the country.
They are chained by two legs in the boxcars, with very little room to move or socialize.
Born Free USA also supported a proposed amendment to the Animal Welfare Act that would require exhibitors to submit to APHIS the dates that they will be traveling (including stops and layovers with addresses) and information on individual animals traveling.
It’s hard to believe that exhibitors in the U.S. are not already required to do this!
It’s too bad that so many people fail to think about the lives that traveling animals are forced to live for just a few minutes of human entertainment, but we’ll keep shouting about it.
Blogging off,
Monica