EXCLUSIVE: ‘There are levels of activism’ – McLaren Circus
Lowvelder recently dropped in on the McLaren Circus in Barberton before its first showing and was granted an impromptu interview with the owner.
While animal rights activists were waging war on the McLaren Circus, the festive spectacle reaped the rewards of its well-attended performances last weekend in Barberton (Umjindi).
“When you’re the talk of the town, you get curiosity,” the circus owner, David McLaren, told Lowvelder in an exclusive interview.
The publication dropped in on the McLaren Circus unannounced on Saturday morning 31 August before its first showing and was granted an impromptu interview with the owner and a behind-the-scenes tour of the circus.
ALSO READ: McLaren Circus causes social media controversy ahead of performance in Barberton
The camels were lying down and did not have nose rings. The lions were fat and sleeping on the grass in their outdoor enclosure. One of the tigers was sleeping in the transportation trailer, while the other was pacing around the perimeter fence of their outdoor enclosure. This journalist also saw a caged monkey, apparently in the process of being rehabilitated, as well as horses and poodles.
@mclarenscircus are playing to Sold Out Shows in #Mpumalanga and gain in #Barberton Today🎪😂🤡🦁🐯🐩🐴🎩🥳😍❤️#DiscoverMpumalanga #SomethingAmazing Coming Soon to #eMalahleni #Witbank #Bronkies & #Centurion #Gauteng
All Show Times & Buy Tickets online: https://t.co/wsY55Vvbk8 pic.twitter.com/LLY1cGigfa— Denzil McLaren (@DenzilMclaren) September 1, 2024
Addressing a series of questions, including those not answered in the previous article, McLaren jumped straight in, accusing those protesting against his circus’s alleged use of animals for personal pleasure of hypocrisy.
“What is personal pleasure? We as humans have been designed … we eat animals, wear animals, we have animals in our car seats, we do animal testing. If a child needs insulin, that comes from a pig, but you’re a vegan, what are you going to do? There are levels of activism,” he said.
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Describing the animal rights movement as a predictable social movement, McLaren said he no longer engaged with them as he felt it was pointless, stating a case in which people have already deemed them cruel. “I’m a huge animal lover and would never put animals in conditions they’re not suited for.”
McLaren said he bought his big cats from a registered breeder when they were six to eight weeks old.
Having grown up in the circus, gradually being ‘groomed’ for this environment, he said his lions and tigers had become accustomed to it and probably did not even know they were big cats. “The moment they realise what they are, they could do a lot of damage,” he said.
McLaren said he gauged his animals’ happiness by their levels of contentment, the bond they formed with their trainer and their behaviour. He said animals were very honest, and an unhappy animal would retaliate. Insisting his animals were conditioned with reward and not pain, he said nine out of 10 times they did what they needed to because it has become a way of life. “How happy is the current lion in a drought-stricken, elephant overpopulated Kruger National Park? The wild is not a pretty place,” he added.
Further defending his captive cats, McLaren said Bengal tigers were in trouble not because every circus stole a tiger, but because of conservation challenges in India. He hoped that someday, should there only be captive tigers left, someone would start rehabilitating them.
On circuses around the world being banned from using wild animals in performances, McLaren said such bans were based on political ideologies rather than concrete evidence of animal abuse.
The SPCA Nelspruit’s Lize Pienaar strongly disagreed.
“Banning of circuses is not a political matter. It is an ethical matter. Animals are forced to live in cages, travel long distances and have to be trained to do ‘tricks’ for human entertainment. The SPCA believes in the sentience of animals as beings that can feel physical and emotional pain. Therefore, we view their exploitation in any form as being cruel and unethical. We imprison criminals because taking someone’s freedom away is in all countries a major form of punishment. And then we imprison animals for life for our own entertainment … there is no logic in this.”
How is the circus funded?
McLaren highlighted the circus’s astronomical operating costs and said during lockdown, they had “looked down the barrel of liquidation”. He explained that the circus was able to keep going during that time because its fleet of trucks had been paid off.
The running costs included licensing and maintaining the trucks and trailers (all seemingly in good nick), the R1.2m price tag attached to just the plastic component of the main tent he bought two years ago, feeding staff and paying salaries, as well as the R1 000 per day just on raw chicken for the big cats.
With ticket prices ranging from R150 to R275, ticket sales alone could not cover costs, hence McLaren said the rest of the money came from popcorn sales. He added that they also received food donations on the farm during the off-season in December.
Is the SPCA harassing McLaren or just being diligent?
The SPCA Nelspruit unexpectedly arrived during Lowvelder’s interview with McLaren. Perturbed by the unscheduled visit, McLaren said he was only expecting them at showtime as they had already conducted an inspection the day before.
“To me, you are coming again to do what was done yesterday. Where do you draw the line with the level of harassment?” he said.
Pienaar, who conducted inspections and attended the Saturday performance, said they had conducted an inspection on Friday when the circus arrived. Another was done on Saturday before and during the performance in both the arena and backstage.
She said they looked at the welfare of the animals in terms of the conditions in which they were kept, including the provision of food, water, shelter and space, the presence of hazardous objects, as well as transport vehicles, the ramps for loading and offloading, hygiene, noise and fumes that might harm the animals.
They also checked the animals’ weight and looked for any obvious signs of injuries or diseases, and whether equipment that could cause injuries was used.
“Lastly, we also checked if the circus owns a licence in terms of the Performing Animals Protection Act 24 of 1935. If they do not have this licence, they won’t be allowed to continue with performances until it has been obtained,” Pienaar said.
She confirmed that no welfare concerns or licence infringements were noted in terms of the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962.
However, she noted that mental and emotional suffering was not covered by the legislation and said the SPCA was opposed to wildlife being in captivity in any form. “Stress is a major issue when wild animals are confined. It is even an issue when domestic animals are confined.”
