Local MP Pushes for Better Animal Welfare Provisions

Local MP, Adrian Sanders is pressing for amendments to the animal welfare bill in the use of animals in travelling circuses and to take measures to protect performing animals in permanent facilities through regulation. He is also pushing government to end the currently legal use of violence to train animals for the purposes of entertainment. Animals in some circuses are often abused and remain in small cages for unreasonable amounts of time.

Adrian said:

“I have received many letters stressing better treatment of animals in circuses. We can no longer turn a blind eye to animals in the circus and must make certain that circus animals are no longer being mistreated. I am concerned that the first reading of the Bill is not as comprehensive and rigorous as I would have liked. Some of the key issues, like circuses, have been glossed over rather than tackled head on. In this second reading I will do all I can to push the government to include specific legislation outlawing travelling circuses.

Adrian added:

I have no objection to circuses as long as they take place at a permanent site where the animals are properly taken care of and properly trained. The current legislation, which dates back to the Performing Animals Act of 1925, provides less legal protection to animals in the circus than to those in Zoos. We must utilize all of our efforts to ensure that the Animal Welfare Bill guarantees specific rights to circus animals that will ensure their safety.”

For more information on this issue you can visit http://www.adriansanders.org, or contact Adrian Sanders’ office on 01803 200 036.