London, April 03: Animals will soon be banned from circuses in Britain under the government’s new plans, a media report said Sunday.
Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has been told by animal rights experts that forcing the creatures to perform tricks for audiences was wrong.
She was also told that making the animals travel thousands of miles every year in “cramped lorry trailers” was harmful to their welfare, according to the Daily Express.
Animal Welfare Minister Jim Paice recently told MPs that a new policy was “close to completion”. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg also favours such a move, it said.
Ros Clubb, scientist with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), which called for the ban, said: “It’s about time that in Britain we showed we really are a nation of animal lovers.”
Recently, undercover footage broadcast on television showed a trainer at the Bobby Roberts circus beating a 59-year-old Asian elephant named Anne with a pitchfork and kicking her.
-Agencies