Activists take a stand against animal cruelty

The McLaren Circus is one of the biggest circuses in the country and activists against animal cruelty took to the streets.

On Sunday, October 7, six activists voiced their concern with sign boards reading: ‘animals are not entertainment’, ‘supporting animal cruelty is not cool’, ‘not born to perform’, ‘welcome to the cruellest show on earth’.

Ms Cathy Raffray from Ban Animal Trading SA was at the protest and she said that they are campaigning against the lions and tigers, amongst other animals in McLaren Circus.

“We just came from KZN and the McLaren brothers know that we will be wherever they are. We are also trying to lobby for legislative changes at the municipality against properties who host the circus. We are against animals being exploited for financial gain and no wild animals should be used in a circus or kept in captivity. This includes zoos and the reported lion bone trade,” Raffray said.

They protested from 13:00 to 15:00 on the corner of Mandela and Nita Streets.

Mr David McLaren was contacted for comment regarding the protest and said that the very peaceful protest is nothing new to them.

“We understand that they are against animal cruelty, but we are not cruel to our animals. These animals are born and bred in captivity and will never survive in the wild. We respect their views and they are not only against the circus but a broad spectrum of animals and cruelty. They believe that every animal should be free, it is even cruel to cows to milk them. So understand where they come from, what they support and we can say with all honesty that we do not abuse our animals,” David added.

“The Witbank SPCA was here, they do monitor the animals and the show, they monitor us and we are comfortable with that.”

He said that the public and the Ban Animal Trading SA will never be satisfied but he can promise that his animals are well taken care of.