MORE GOOD NEWS!
On November 9th, Michael Creed, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, announced a ban on wild-animal circuses in Ireland. And it’s all thanks to the thousands of e-mails sent by animal rights supporters to their representation in Ireland (and letters of support from celebs like Pamela Anderson and Louis Walsh).
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A statement released by Minister Creed reads as follows:
“The use of wild animals for entertainment purposes in circuses can no longer be permitted. This is the general view of the public at large and a position I am happy to endorse. This is a progressive move, reflective of our commitment to animal welfare. I am of course allowing a modest lead in period to allow for alternative arrangements to be made for the animals in question.”1
With this decision, Ireland joins dozens of other countries (like Austria, Belgium, Mexico, and the Netherlands) who have introduced similar bans. The truth is that zoos all over the world need to close now. We cannot begin to truly care for wild animals in the context of a zoo or circus. “These animals are chronically frustrated, stressed, and depressed from a lifetime of being denied the opportunity to do anything that’s natural and important to them. They’re kept caged in trailers that are hauled around the country and forced to perform confusing tricks under the big top out of some Victorian-era concept of amusement.”2
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We are better than this. We are enlightened. We know more now than we did about how to care for animals. It’s time to shut them all down. Keep using your voice. It’s working.
