Irish councils ban animal circuses
October 2007

Fingal County Council, in north Dublin, has become the first council in the Republic of Ireland to vote in favour of banning animal circuses from performing in the area.

On 8th October 2007 councillors backed a motion by Councillor Clare Daly (Socialist Party) to ban circuses with wild animals from performing anywhere in the local authority area. The issue will now be taken to the Strategic Policy Committee to finalise how the decision can be implemented.

CAPS, along with the Alliance for Animal Rights and other campaigners had lobbied councillors, encouraging them to support the motion. We had provided detailed evidence from our investigation into circuses in Ireland.

A few days earlier, the notorious Circus Sydney was told it must leave its animals at home when it performs at the council-owned Andersonstown Leisure Centre in Northern Ireland next year as Belfast City Council has banned animal circuses on its land.

Also on 10th October 2007 Newtownabbey council in County Antrim voted to ban animal circuses on council land. However, this was sadly overturned at the following council meeting at the end of the month. CAPS expressed our concern that councillors had been persuaded to vote against the ban and ignored the evidence submitted by CAPS and USPCA. We will continue to work with councillors to ensure this motion is put before the council again in the future.

CAPS welcomes these bans as a sign that animal circuses are increasingly not welcome by the public and forward-thinking local authorities. We encourage other councils to also implement bans on animal circuses as the first step towards a national ban.

CAPS launched a major campaign against animal circuses across the whole of Ireland last year, ensuring that the cruelty of animal circuses is now widely known and more members of the public are getting involved to end the suffering.

To keep updated on the campaign visit our website www.irishcircuses.org or contact us to join our campaign e-mail list.

What you can do

	The most important thing anyone can do to end circus animal suffering is simply to avoid any circus using animals. Instead, visit a totally all-human circuses rather than ones using animals. Contact us for a list.
	If an animal circus comes to your area ask shopkeepers not to put up posters for it. Write to local newspapers asking people to boycott the circus. Organise a protest - we can supply leaflets and ideas on how you can get active to help animals in circuses.
	Become a CAPS supporter - you can help to make a difference.