Animal activists sign petition against McLaren’s Circus

Over two thousand animal rights activists have signed a Change-dot-Organisation petition in protest against the McLaren Circus visiting Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape. The circus is set to stage several performances this coming week.

The group says it’s against captured wild animals being forced to perform in front of audiences. The author of the petition, Paul van der Schyff, says they’ve organised several protests.

“We’re trying to make sure that we’re not part of the promoters of circuses that still used captured animals. It’s as simple as that, and it’s a travelling circus. I personally loved circuses all my life, and now I’m a cirque de soleil fan because they don’t use animals – and if its animals, its domesticated animals, so it’s not any wild animals. So none of the animals being used in the McLaren circus are in their natural habitat,” explains Schyff.

Circus owner David McLaren says they will go ahead with the performances.

“It’s a complete double standard that the people who are complaining about the circus are people who are also keeping wild animals in captivity for means of profit. We comply with all the laws set out for animals to be exhibited in a circus.

We are also monitored constantly by the NSPCA and the SPCA in every single town that the circus operates and where they are present,” says McLaren.