Insight

Blata l-Bajada circus imports animal cruelty, quarantine waive

Despite wide-ranging protests and closures of circuses showcasing animals in other countries such as the UK, Belgium Finland, Sweden Israel and Singapore – the Hungarian State Circus, the Magyar Nemzeti Cirkusz, is successfully running two two-hour shows a day in Blata l-Bajada as David Lindsay discovers.

Unfortunately, the heightened sense of awareness over the miserable plight of these animals used for circus acts seems to have escaped the attention of the Maltese public.

However, onlookers behind the scenes of the event have brought back tales of what can only be described as cruelty through the performing animals' sad incarceration in cramped cages, in which caged big cats and elephants, for example, have room to hardly carry out three paces.

Fortunately, the unfortunates are let out twice a day to perform for the gasping crowd, unwary of the cruelty dealt out to the animals – which, in most cases, lasts from the moment of their initial capture until the day they die, or become too old to perform.

Apart from the view held by many that the training of animals for circus acts amounts to no more than a degrading ritual, this animal cruelty is falsely advertised as ‘entertainment' while the extra travel by sea to Malta only increases their suffering. The fact that physical cruelty, in the nature of good public relations, is kept far from the sight of circus-goers does not mean it isn't taking place. Too many of these animals the deprivation of their natural environment and social groupings creates acute stress and suffering in their own right.

The Hungarian State Circus is, by no means, exempt from this regime of cruelty. In fact, once local NGO World Animal Conscience received news of the circus coming to town, they contacted their associates in Budapest in order to determine what was known about this particular circus and its treatment of animals – and the news wasn't good.

Hungarian animal rights activists sent back frightening photographic evidence, shot undercover, of the atrocious conditions in which the animals are kept – when the circus held in Budapest just last October.

WAC had called on the government not to allow this circus to bring animals to Malta, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, from around the globe reports of abuse and mistreatment of these animals at the hands of circus owners and trainers have become increasingly regular. The prolonged periods spent by these wild animals in the cages and containers used to transport compromises their welfare.

Furthermore, it must be noted that dogs performing in the circus in Blata l-Bajada have been exempted from the otherwise obligatory six month quarantine. A Maltese quarantine is mandatory for any dog imported into Malta from Hungary and why these dogs used in the circus have been allowed to evade this quarantine is unclear but is unfair and dangerous. The argument that the dogs are in transit fails to hold water as they leave their enclosures perform in an uncaged area.

Elephants, due to their enormous size and weight, are one of the worst sufferers. Due to the need to restrain the powerful animal it is often chained to prevent escape. Grooming and hygiene are essential to the elephant, and in their natural surroundings bathing forms a good part of its daily activities. For obvious reasons, this is not possible within the confines of a travelling circus, particularly when chained to the ground.

Additionally, when performing the animal is often obliged to carry out unnatural movements which due to the animals' immense weight will cause injury. Any form of balancing or standing on hind or fore legs (one of the most common elephant acts) puts considerable pressure on the body that can lead to injuries to joints and discs, while the training of elephants often uses excessive force, beating or electric shocks.

Zebras in the wild live in independent family groups and they roam and graze over vast areas. In a travelling circus this behaviour is severely limited, as they are kept in small pens where they become strained and stressed. During observations carried out in Budapest one zebra bit a circus worker, who then proceeded to beat zebra on the head with a brush. Often the zebras' only exercise is when they are performing in the ring, running in small circles at the command of the ringmaster's whip.

One particularly sad performance is that of a fox terrier, which is reportedly, paraded around the ring wearing a heavy costume making it look like a small elephant. The fox terrier then struggles around the ring with its head covered with a mask.

While the authorities even at the moment attempt to pass legislation preventing cruelty to animals, it is rather ironic that these authorities also sanction the importation of animal cruelty.