ANIMAL welfare campaigners have protested at a circus in Trafford with England's only "performing" elephant.
They asked visitors to boycott last night's Timperley show of the Bobby Roberts Circus - one of just a handful in the country still using performing animals.
They were particularly angry about the treatment of Anne, the last remaining circus elephant in the country.
The 51-year-old Asian elephant has been retired from performing, but is paraded during breaks for people to take photographs.
The Manchester Animal Protection Group members arrived at the circus in Green Lane last night to complain at the way Anne and the other animals - eight horses, six ponies and a mule - were kept and transported from town to town.
Elephants are social and intelligent animals who can suffer from physical and mental problems in captivity, say the protesters.
But circus administrator Moira Roberts told the M.E.N.: "The Bobby Roberts Circus has been going for 50 years. Anne, like all the animals, is well-loved and has had excellent care.
"She loves to come into the tent. She has been performing since she was four or five and it would break her heart if we took her away from all the other animals. She's very happy.
"If somebody offered us a million pounds for her we wouldn't take it. She's like one of the family. This is our fifth year in Timperley and we wouldn't keep coming back if they didn't want us."
The Captive Animals' Protection Society (CAPS) has called on the public to boycott the circus while it is in Timperley - until Sunday - and claims it receives more complaints about it than any other circus.
CAPS spokesman Craig Redmond said: "By their very nature, circuses cannot provide all of the space and necessary requirements to guarantee the wellbeing of animals. We ask the public to boycott animal circuses and shopkeepers not to display posters for them."
In December, Anne "escaped" from the circus at a racecourse in Scotland. But the circus said she merely went "walkabout" because she was frightened by joy-riders.
It is thought no other circus in England features an elephant, though there are some performing elephants at circuses in Northern Ireland.
What do you think of using animals in the circus?
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Paul Timpson, Manchester (15/04/2004 at 16:13)
Lee Hall, Devon (15/04/2004 at 16:15)
Jenny Ward, Trafford, Manchester (15/04/2004 at 20:25)
The circus owners are hardly likely to admit fault on their side and the appalling way in which the animals are 'trained'.
If the genral public saw the wicked way in which these animals are 'taught' their demeaning routines then they would never visit another circus again. The owners say they invite the public to watch training but this is just for show and the cruelty aspect is, of course, never shown.
All animal circuses should be banned and I, as well as the animals, can't wait for that day to happen.
Don't fall for their lies, BOYCOTT ANIMAL CIRCUSES.
Deniz Bolbol, USA (15/04/2004 at 21:17)
As Americans learn about elephants, we see more circuses no longer "using" elephants and more emphasis put on human talent.
Only a circus with weak human acts relies on animals to bring in money. The best circuses do not use animals -- because they are truly creative
Irene Boyne, Scotland (15/04/2004 at 22:46)
eric mills, oakland, ca - usa (15/04/2004 at 23:04)
England has long been a world leader in the animal welfare/rights strugglle, for which I offer my heartfelt gratitude. I wish you success. Both the animals (and we) deserve far better.
Sincerely,
Eric Mills, coordinator
ACTION FOR ANIMALS
Oakland, CA - USA
Mary, Didsbury (15/04/2004 at 23:51)
Jasmina Basaneze, London (16/04/2004 at 00:57)
Gerry, Heaton Chapel (16/04/2004 at 13:01)
Mike Lincoln, Knutsford, Cheshire (16/04/2004 at 14:12)
scott, moss side, manchester (16/04/2004 at 14:28)
Yvonne Lilley, Sheldon, Birmingham (16/04/2004 at 16:35)
Travelling from site to site and being kept in unsatisfactory conditions also contributes to the animals stress and unhappiness. I would urge people to please boycott these events.
Richard, Manchester (16/04/2004 at 17:21)
Mike, Denton, Manchester (17/04/2004 at 11:51)
patricia allenby, caistor, lincs (17/04/2004 at 13:25)
brian hewitt, caistor, lincs (17/04/2004 at 13:34)
people should not be so selfish, animals are beautiful, intelligent creatures that should be respected, not abused!
Jakqui, Wales (18/04/2004 at 08:57)
Mary Alice Pollard, Canadian Voice for Animals UK Rep, Gerrans Cornwall (18/04/2004 at 09:15)
I have attended many animal free circus's and they are entertaining and fun !
As a matter of fact, I find them quite the relief !
Even as a child I would get upset to see the animals being forced into situations like this - I would feel ashamed when the other kids would laugh and think it funny or find it entertaining !
Just as important, I think it is right that our children grow up without the seed being planted in their heads that is is ok to treat animals this way.
It is time to say goodbye to these kinds of circus's and put them in the pages of the history books where they belong.
John Brown, Stockport (18/04/2004 at 11:08)
The listless elephant at Bobby Robert's circus, which is touring the Manchester area, must have lost its sparkle for life many years ago and yet the RSPCA can do nothing because the law is so lax.
The cruel training methods are based on submission and fear in order to make the animals perform on demand. They are confined for long periods of time in their mundane surroundings.
The public only see the performance, not the suffering. Sadly some people do not care and it is their entrance fees that keep these unacceptable circuses in business.
Sanya Preston, Dagenham, Essex (18/04/2004 at 12:36)
This unfortunate creature has spent nearly all her life in the unnatural, inadequate conditions of life faced by such animals. Forced to spend almost the whole of the day in chains, unable to mingle with those of her own kind, her natural instincts frustrated by her human captors.
This is no life for such a creature, or indeed, any type of animal. Where is the 'entertainment value' of seeing such a magnificent animal parading around a ring, instead of in the wild, where she should be?
It appals me that people can take these animals from the wild and force them to 'perform' in a ring, where they are punished for 'disobedience' with sharp hooks on sticks (which are disguised with tassles when in front of an audience).
It is high time that animal circuses were banned, just like bear baiting and cock fighting have already been. Let's wake up and start treating our fellow beings with the respect they deserve!
Sylvia, Preston, Lancashire (18/04/2004 at 19:12)
Luree Dell-Bryan, Canada (18/04/2004 at 23:18)
Pat Cuviello, San Francisco (19/04/2004 at 04:00)
Veronica Titchener, Oxfordshire (19/04/2004 at 09:12)
No animal should be crammed on long journeys between destinations and this kind of cruel so called entertainment should be confined to the history books
Ivan Darch, manchester (19/04/2004 at 11:22)