Lions, tigers and elephants that had been long kept in confined spaces and forced to perform under duress would be free from their stressful conditions — at least, they were supposed to be.
The group Animal Defenders International is now saying that Alexander Lacey, the defunct circus's former big cat trainer, has brought his show over to Europe — and they're trying to spread awareness of what they say are poor conditions the animals experience each day, and to call on countries to enact tougher laws to punish people who cause animal suffering.
“The plight of these animals symbolizes everything that is wrong with the use of animals in traveling circuses," said Tim Phillips, President of Animal Defenders International in a media release. "They are forced to live in cages on the backs of trucks and shunted from one country to another. The lives of these animals are miserable and, as we saw tragically in Georgia, the public and the animals themselves are put at risk. [Forty] countries have taken steps to outlaw this, but we urgently need more countries to act to end circus suffering.”
The Georgia tragedy to which Phillips is referring involved the shooting death of a tiger named Suzy in Georgia last month. Suzy, who belonged to Lacey, had escaped from a truck and had wandered along I-75 to a residential area and began showing aggression toward pets in the area. Police shot her dead.
To animal welfare groups, the incident highlighted what they say are inhumane conditions for animals that live in captivity and are forced to perform.
Lacey insists that the animals are treated well; that he doesn't employ any inhumane training tactics or take them from wild or remove their teeth or claws.
But Animal Defenders International and other groups aren't buying it and allege that the cats are consistently mistreated and that their cages are too small.
This article appears in Oct 12-19, 2017.