No more animals kept in slavery: Madrid bans their use in circuses

Environment · Lorenzo Brenna · 2017-02-06

The municipality of Madrid has finally decided to ban circus shows “featuring wild animal performances”.

It is almost grotesque that in 2017 there are still people willing to pay to watch exotic animals forced to perform unnatural, humiliating or dangerous acts. Fortunately, audiences at circuses are in sharp decline; it is hardly a secret that animals in circuses are virtual slaves, forced to endure physical and psychological suffering, with no opportunity to express their true nature, and trained using coercive methods such as physical violence or food deprivation. The circus is, however, destined to die out: a growing number of cities around the world have decided to ban the use of animals in circus shows.

Scimmia al circo — Fewer and fewer people attend circus shows that exploit animals, as evidenced by the fact that all circuses are sustained by state funding (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Madrid takes the side of animals

Madrid too is saying enough: like a row of dominoes, circus shows that force animals to "perform" are falling, one after another, across the world. The municipality of Madrid, led by Mayor Manuela Carmena, elected with Podemos, has decided to ban circus shows "featuring wild animal performances". "Animals have the right not to be subjected to demands or cruel acts that cause them suffering, anxiety or stress," reads the reasoning behind the bill banning the use of animals in circuses. Madrid is merely the latest Spanish city to have banned this type of show, joining some three hundred others, including Barcelona and Cádiz.

Tigre che salta in un cerchio di fuoco — The circus is built on the enslavement of many animals — mostly large ones, and therefore even harder to adapt, such as elephants, big cats and monkeys — and of exotic origin (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Animal rights recognised

The measure, passed by a large majority of the city council, represents a victory for animals and for all the organisations that have spent years campaigning for their rights to be recognised. "In the circus, animals live in conditions of captivity, locked in cages or containers in which they can barely move, in defiance of their most basic physical needs," declared the spokesperson for the Ahora Madrid party. "Although some of them were born in captivity, they retain natural instincts, to counteract which they are subjected to training processes in which they are forced — sometimes through violence — to carry out behaviours that are entirely unnatural for their species."

The example of South America and Central America

In South America and Central America there are numerous countries that have adopted similar laws, demonstrating a sensitivity greater than that of the rest of the world. The pioneer was Bolivia in 2009 (which also banned the use of domestic animals); Peru, Paraguay, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil followed suit, and Brazil, Ecuador and Chile could soon join them.

Leone umiliato durante uno spettacolo circense — Among the countless and sophisticated forms that humans have devised to exploit and mistreat animals, their use for human entertainment is certainly among the worst (Photo by Gaetan Luci/Palais Princier via Getty Images)

Italy falls behind

While numerous cities and nations are banning circuses with animals, Italy is moving in the opposite direction, having recently decided to increase funding allocated to these shows. Despite the fact that the majority of Italians are opposed to circuses with animals — 71.4 per cent, according to 2016 Eurispes data — the government increased funding for circuses in 2017, rising from 4,475,000 euros in 2016 to the current 4,900,000 euros. It should be noted that several Italian municipalities and provinces have issued ordinances banning circus shows with animals, but for these to be truly effective a national law is needed.