Pretoria - The criticism by Ban Animal Trading South Africa against McLaren Circus was unrealistic, its founder and owner David McLaren has said.
The circus is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a show in a big tent near the intersection of Stanza Bopape and End streets in Pretoria.
On Saturday, activists affiliated to Ban Animal Trading protested outside the venue against the use of animals by circuses.
McLaren and advance manager at the circus, Arnold Dickson, said the distinction between animal rights and welfare needed to be understood.
Animal activists often focused more on animal rights than welfare, they said.
“Animal welfare is about us taking care of the animals and ensuring that they’re in good health, and we do that,” Dickson explained.
McLaren said animal rights were concerned with trying to give animals the same rights as humans, which was not possible. “Animal rights are not feasible, because we eat animals and they eat each other,” McLaren said. “What is important is that the animals are healthy and not abused; this is my livelihood.”
He stressed that it was important to take good care of the animals and said it was in their best interest to ensure the animals were healthy and not harmed. This ensured the success of the circus, he said.
“We got inspected by the Tshwane SPCA. Why is no one going to the police if there’s something wrong with the animals?”
A multicultural group of staff and a wildlife veterinarian worked with the animals to ensure that they were in good health, McLaren added.
Responding to accusations that they exploited animals for profit, Dickson said it was not run on love and charity, but as a business.
“We have to see to it that the animals are well taken care of, in order to keep the circus running,” Dickson said.
He also rejected claims that they used fear and intimidation to train the animals to perform in front of an audience. “You cannot hit a 300kg lion into submission. It will kill you.”
The circus developed the natural ability of the animals into acts for the shows. “Nothing that we do is unnatural,” said Dickson.
The circus had previously invited activist groups to the shows and training sessions for them to see how they treated their animals, he added.
He claimed that Ban Animal Trading, however, had never attended any of these events.
Pretoria News