MBOMBELA – Apart from the excitement the McLaren Circus has brought to town, its arrival has also raised the concern of many locals. A sea of social-media posts recently alleged animal abuse and urged community members to protest the circus’ presence in our city.
The Nelspruiters group on Facebook served as a platform for many allegations made against the McLaren Circus. Ms Liezl Bernardo shared a report from the National Council of SPCA (NCSPCA) to the page.
In this report, its policy holds that it opposes any degree of confinement or use of animals in sport, entertainment of presentations of wildlife in circuses and travelling menageries.
A far more serious allegation was posted by Mr Theo Busshau. “Don’t support the circus while they are in Nelspruit!” he urged. Attached to his post was People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (Peta) blog post titled “10 Reasons not to attend the circus.” According to this post, circuses train animals using whips, ropes, electric prods and food deprivation.
The blog further alleged that circuses cage animals in small areas with barely enough space for them to turn around in. According to Peta, they are forced to travel in boxcars or trailers for up to 100 hours at a time.
Lowvelder met with McLarens’ owner, Mr David McLaren, and the circus’ spokesman Mr Arnold Dixon on Wednesday. McLaren and Dixon explained that they got bombarded with these allegations every week. “What surprises me, is that we keep inviting people to visit our circus at any time to refute these allegations. Yet they don’t turn up.
“The SPCA turns up to check up on us and we have never been charged with animal abuse, because we are not cruel to our animals. Simple as that,” McLaren said. He explained that the circus was governed by legislation – the Animals Protection Act and the Performing Animals Act prohibits acts of animal cruelty. “We adhere to the Act because we are opposed to animal cruelty ourselves. I own a circus because I love animals and I won’t harm them,” McLaren said.
To prove it, he invited the journalist to inspect the circus premises. The visit proved that healthy, well-fed animals lived in decent-sized moveable cages. The lions and tigers, a source of concern to many, still have all of their teeth and claws, contrary to claims on social media that they are being pulled, and their coats show no signs of being whipped or prodded.
• How do you know that these animals are healthy?
“We have a specialised veterinarian who visits our animals at least once every two to three months. He does a thorough check up on each of our animals and advises us on keeping them healthy.”
• What happens to animals that get injured or sick?
“They are in good hands – once again, our specialist veterinarian takes good care of them and is used in situations like these.”
• Do you cram the animals in small spaces when transporting them?
McLaren and Dixon led the journalist to the cages that their tigers travel in. The cages are large enough for the tiger to walk around in.
• Do you sedate the animals when transporting them?
“No.”
• Do the animals travel long distances at a time?
“The longest we will travel in an absolute worst-case scenario is maybe 250 kilometres. When we travel, we pack up to leave at 04:00, as this is the most convenient time for our animals to be transported. We arrange our routes in such a way that we reach our destination by 07:00.”
• People say that you rob wild animals of a free roaming life they would have had, had you not intervened.
“Our animals were born in captivity. We have not taken one single animal from the wild. The captivity that we acquired them from, limited their movement to a great extent. We give them more space to play
and move.”
• Do you force the animals to perform unnatural movements?
“No. We don’t have hoops of fire for them to jump through or anything like that. We consider it very important that they perform natural movements.”
• What do you do with the animals when they become too old to perform?
“We have a patch of land where these animals will be taken care of. We are able to take care of their needs on this land and will do so. Our veterinarian will also keep an eye on these animals.”
When asked whether they beat or prodded the wild animals, McLaren and Dixon invited the newspaper into the tent and called in the six tigers and lions. Sable, Mogli, Kama, Zeus, Misty and Caeser walked into the empty arena and McLaren, who had a stick and a whip with him, explained what these tools were used for. “We do not hit the animals,” he said.
“The whip is an extension of the arm. I position the whip in front of or behind me to guide the animal in a certain direction. I also communicate with them through the sound of my voice. I call them by their names, instruct them to roll or to stand up and reward them for their good behaviour.”
Seeing the interaction between McLaren and the wild animals was extraordinary. He spoke to them in a calm voice and they responded as if participating in a dialogue that only them and their trainer understood. The stick is a favourite among the cats as it is used to dish up their rewards for good behaviour. When the demonstration was done, each cat was called to receive his treat from the meat stick.
However, many animal lovers simply hated the idea of wild animals living in cages. Ms Raquel Lopes expressed her concern to Lowvelder: “My only complaint is that they are using wild animals. “They look after them – you can see that and I’m happy for the animals’ sake, but I just don’t think it’s right to train wild animals to do tricks. We are supposed to be their custodians, not exploit them for financial gain. A lot of people get upset and think that I am bad-mouthing the circus. That is not the case. I just do not think they belong there.
“Although it has been normal in society for a long time, it doesn’t mean it’s right. The world is changing and more and more people don’t want to see this.
“Evident is the fact that more and more countries are banning the use of wild animals in circuses. It’s the way of the future, a much more conscious and respectful way forward. I’d much rather teach my children to conserve, protect and honour nature and living creatures, than let them think it’s alright for an animal to be tamed and trained to perform tricks so we may have a few minutes of entertainment.”
McLaren and Dixon maintained that they loved their animals dearly.
